Sarah Beth Hopton - Woman at the Devil’s Door: The Untold True Story of the Hampstead Murderess

This book took a decade to write. It went through countless revisions as it tried to figure out what it wanted to be. It was first conceived and written as fiction, then creative nonfiction, sold to a literary agency, then withdrawn, repurposed itself as something between creative nonfiction and biographical history and finally sold again. There were many people over the last decade who financially supported, edited, and counseled me off ledges, and to list you all here would require a separate book. But know that I know who you are and that your support was essential.

Having said that, there is one person who I would like to acknow-ledge by name. He stuck with me, this case, and the manuscript far longer than I had reason to expect, and contributed far more to its success than many know.

Thank you Mark Ripper for helping me tell the truth, well. I hope youre proud of our book.

SARAH BETH HOPTON

January 2017

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