I am grateful to my agent, Rebecca Stead, for her wisdom, patience, tremendous skill, and humor, and my editor, Liz Szabla, for her expert guidance and generous enthusiasm. And many thanks to Karen Sherman, Melinda Ackell, Liz Dresner, and the rest of the wonderful Macmillan team for their outstanding assistance.
Several friends provided ideas for sources, lent me useful books, and encouraged and advised me at different stages of the writing process, including Alethea Johnson, Jennifer L. Johnson, Jennifer R. Johnson, Gwen Oosterhouse, Amy Gaesser, and Sheila Stewart. I especially want to thank Diane Palmer, who introduced me to the firsthand accounts compiled in Arad Thomas’s Pioneer History of Orleans County, New York, gave me access to the archives belonging to the Orleans Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, answered my questions about the Genesee Valley pioneers, and read an early draft of this manuscript. Special thanks, as well, to Sharon Root, whose family letters, memorabilia, and stories deepened my appreciation for and understanding of the western New York settlers’ experiences. And I am grateful to librarian Adrienne Kirby, who graciously lent me dozens of books from her personal collection and taught me a great deal about our local history. And a warm thank-you to my bright friend Anna Symons, who also read an early draft of this novel and offered sound advice. I am obliged to these dear women. So much of what they lavishly shared engendered the seeds of this narrative and fostered its development.
Thanks to my students, who delight and inspire me and who, over the years, have helped make this Lake Ontario fruit country the place I call home.
Sincere thanks to Douglas Carlson, cherished mentor.
Heartfelt thanks to my best friends and siblings, Noelle Swanson and Robert Ostrom, for their unwavering faith in me. Affectionate gratitude to all my family, far and wide.
And deepest thanks to Michael, Lily, and Quintin, the loves of my life.