I’m lucky to have many extraordinary people who support me as a writer and a woman. My agent, Sandra Dijkstra, and her staff of wonderful women—Andrea Cavallero and Elise Capron, in particular—stay attuned to the business side of things. This is my third novel with Scribner, and what a wonderful journey it’s been. Thank you to Nan Graham, Kathy Belden, Katie Monaghan, Mia O’Neill, and Ashley Gilliam for your unwavering support and abounding energy, and to everyone in marketing and sales who astound me almost daily by thinking outside the box.
My sister, Clara Sturak, knows and understands my writing better than anyone else on earth. Not only do I trust her editorial eye, but I also trust her to help me get to the story I’m trying to tell. I’m fortunate to have two sons, two daughters-in-law, and a grandson to remind me what’s important in life. I love them all so much. Last, I want to thank my husband, Richard Kendall. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I beg to differ. During these strange and wondrous pandemic years—as the two of us have spent twenty-four hours a day under the same roof, working in different rooms, finding simple joys in music, streaming ever more esoteric television shows, and lounging in the garden—my love and respect for him have grown more than I could have imagined on the blind date set up by his father and my mother so long ago.