The Skeleton Road (30 page)

This book has its roots in the achievements of two very different but equally remarkable and genuinely iconoclastic women – the late Dr Kathy Wilkes, Philosophy Fellow at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, and Professor Sue Black, head of the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at the University of Dundee.

Kathy was a passionate exponent of the clandestine teaching of philosophy behind the Iron Curtain in the dying years of the Soviet regime. She was caught up in the siege of Dubrovnik and her tireless work on behalf of the city and its inhabitants was recognised with honours from the city and the state of Croatia. There is a square in Dubrovnik that now bears her name. What I have written about the siege and the city relies heavily on Kathy’s own writings and our late-night conversations in the aftermath of the 1991–92 Croatian War. She was an extraordinary woman – an inspirational teacher, a challenging intellect and a generous friend.

Sue was the lead forensic anthropologist to the British Forensic Team in Kosovo, deployed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on behalf of the United Nations to shine a light on the atrocities committed during the conflict in the 1990s. The integrity and humanity of her leadership is remarkable, and I owe a great deal to the searing honesty of her accounts of her time in Kosovo. I also remain profoundly grateful for her friendship.

Their stories were the starting point for mine – which is entirely fictitious – and I had more help from many other sources. I owe a huge debt to the generosity of Linda McDowell, Professor of Geography at Oxford University; Dr Janet Howarth, Dr Anita Avramides, Maria Croghan and Bronwyn Travers of St Hilda’s College, Oxford; Dr Olivia Stevenson of Glasgow University; Angus Marshall, Consultant in Digital Forensics; Mary Miller of Dundee Women’s Aid; and Jo Sharp, Professor of Geography at Glasgow, who told me interesting things, fed me delicious meals, continued the quest for the perfect cup of coffee, made me laugh and, along with the indefatigable Leslie Hills, kept the renovation squad at bay. Thanks also to my backroom crew who provide endless support and never let me feel the fear – David Shelley and the Little, Brown team; Anne O’Brien, Jedi copy-editor; Jane Gregory and her girls (and Terry!); Liz Sich and Rachael Young, for making sure the train runs on time; and most of all, the Kid and the Bidie-in.