Many thanks to the generosity of Clydette and Charles de Groot and the American Library in Paris. I would also like to thank Hugues and Claude de Rocquigny for their hospitality and friendship. I am indebted to Carolyn Kalhorn and the real Alf. I am deeply grateful to the residents of Les Cerqueux-sous-Passavant, especially Yanan Par and Pascal Métayer and his family, as well as Huguette and Gilles Couteleau of L’Eraudier, with fond memories of René Couteleau.
I am grateful for the friendship of Yiyun Li, whose love of Russian authors has sustained so many readers and who encouraged me by laughing during a reading of an early version of this manuscript many years ago in Napa. A thousand thanks to Bennett Sims for sharing his virtuosity in an inspiring letter, and for “The Brothers Karamahjong.” I am indebted to Kevin Brockmeier, extraordinary writer, friend, and reader; and to Tom Drury for his kind, expansive reading of the manuscript. I’m grateful to Jess Walter for his visionary advice guiding me toward omniscience. James Han Mattson provided significant feedback. My deep appreciation to Ada Zhang, for her generosity and insight, and for finding the church, the courthouse, and the restaurant.
To Eileen Bartos, Andrea Bewick, Nan Cohen, Craig Collins, and Dr. Elizabeth Rourke: I am truly grateful for your generosity and friendship. My deepest thanks to all of you, especially Eileen, for reading my work.
Robert Stauffer and Kathi Hansen philanthropically provided hours of pro bono consultation. They are not responsible for any of my legal errors in the book.
I’m indebted to all of my students over the last fifteen years. They have been profound, gifted, and kind. I appreciate their patience with me and their acceptance of my shyness, bluntness, and inadequacy. My thanks for understanding the necessity of getting work done.
I would like to thank Tameka Cage Conley and Derek Nnuro, for their friendship; Sarah Frye and Alex Madison, for my wonderful ten-year party; Garth Greenwell, for inspiring passion about reading; Jorge Guerra, for advice and support of diversity at the Workshop; Ben Hale, for his aesthetic capaciousness; Arna Bontemps Hemenway, for his correspondence; Evan James, for looking at ants with Tai; Carmen Maria Machado, for generousity years ago; T. Geronimo Johnson, for friendship and support; Ben Mauk and Carleen Coulter, for introducing me to Berlin; Belinda Tang, for her inspired work during the pandemic; Tony Tulathimutte, for “diaperfilling”; and Kevin Smith, for music and tai chi.
Many thanks to Mary Ellen Gallagher, for teaching me to love Paris. Many thanks to Pauline Ryan, for friendship and generosity to the Writers’ Workshop. My deep appreciation to Jean Kwok, especially for encouraging me to drive to Wisconsin to see my dad. For important readings of the cards, I am grateful to Rebecca Makkai and Xochitl Gonzalez.
Many, many other people inspired me and helped me complete my work over the last fifteen years. I would like to thank Jen Adrian, Alexia Arthurs, David Baculis, Jr., Charles Black, Tyler Brooks, Janet Skeslien Charles, Lauree Christman, Joy Chung, Dr. Tony Colby, Tim Conroy, Christina Cooke, Victor Diamondfinger, Iracema Drew, Steven Fletcher, Dr. Mbechi Erondu, Angela Flournoy, Claire Fox, Allan Gurganus, Paul Harding, Adam Haslett, Matthew Henerson, Sarah Heyward, Michelle Huneven, Riley Johnson, Matthew Kelley, Dimitri Keramitis, Yu-Han Kuan, Elaine Lai, You Jin Lee, Chris Leslie-Hynan, Peter Lessler, Cristóbal McKinney, Rachel McPherson, Kyoko Mori, IfeOluwa Nihinlola, David Wystan Owen, Amy Parker, Doris Preucil, Tianhao Shao, William Shih, Sara Stojkovic, Brandon Taylor, Alden Terry, Frankie Thomas, Vauhini Vara, Kris Vervaecke, Monica West, Liz Weiss, Rachel Williams, and Mako Yoshikawa.
I am exceptionally lucky that this novel has found a home at W. W. Norton. My deepest appreciation to Jill Bialosky for her wisdom and her belief in this project. Thanks also to Drew Elizabeth Weitman, Erin Lovett, Michelle Waters, Kelly Winton, and Ingsu Liu.
A thousand thanks to Sarah Chalfant and Jin Auh for years of patience and support.
I feel very grateful to my three sisters, Tai Chang Terry, Dr. Huan Justina Chang, and Ling Patricia Chang.
I would not have finished this novel without the humor and generosity of my brilliant and loving husband, Robert Caputo, who has been truly supportive of me and my work. I must also thank my wonderful daughter, Tai Caputo, who has been deeply kind to an imaginary book-sibling throughout her fourteen years, never once complaining while her mother devoted unreasonable time and attention to its make-believe people and their problems. Thanks also to my humane and wise mother-in-law, Katherine Caputo, and her chicken soup.
The following supporters of this novel are no longer living but are remembered frequently with love and gratitude: Scott Johnston, Joe and Genie Patrick, Eavan Boland, James Alan McPherson, James Caputo, Helen Chung-Hung Chang, and Nai Lin Chang.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lan Samantha Chang is the author of the award-winning Hunger and Inheritance, and All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost. Her work has been translated into nine languages and has been chosen twice for The Best American Short Stories. A recent Berlin Prize winner, she has received creative writing fellowships from Stanford University, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Samantha lives in Iowa City, where she is the director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.