I wrote a piece for the Sunday Telegraph’s Stella magazine about the realities of being a weekend wife. Not that I am one, but I am lucky to have cooperative friends who are living the weekend wife life. Especial thanks goes to Natalia and Greg Willmott who not only gave me the idea for the book, but also posed for some photos for the article in and around their idyllic Yorkshire house.

Despite the fact that I’ve written about imploding marriages, secrets and deceit in the book, those people I know who are forced into a similar set-up, seem to be making a success of it. Obviously life being quite content and well-organised doesn’t make for a good story, hence my characters doing just the opposite.

I was struck when interviewing case studies and the Relate Counsellor Arabella how similar all the advice on making a go of it when you don’t see each other during the week was for all of us: communicate, appreciate, always be open. I do know people for whom living like this hasn’t worked, but in retrospect I wonder whether they were couples with far more fundamental flaws in their relationships.