Thanks to Molly Atlas, who has believed in this book from the first read; to my editor, Kara Cesare, for her enthusiasm, insight, and patience; to everyone at Random House who helped usher the manuscript from Word doc into an actual printed book—Bonnie Thompson, Loren Noveck, and all the other folks who toiled on behalf of the novel; to everyone at ICM and Curtis Brown—Felicity Blunt, Roxane Edouard; and everyone who read the book and offered up suggestions along the way.
Thanks to my sister, Emily, for believing me when I said that Ava and Zelda have nothing to do with us; to my mom, Peggy, and my dad, Mike, for encouraging my lifelong literary obsession; to my mother-and father-in-law, Elbert and Marinda, who caught some foolish medical errors in the manuscript and have been keen readers since the early days; to the folks at Brooklyn Winery and to Katy Koken at Bloomer Creek Vineyard, for answering wine questions. Thanks be to early readers: Geoff Gilbert, Dan Gunn, Lauren Steyn, Chris Honey, Seamus Vasey, Katy Schoedel, Joanna Cerro.
And the last thanks go to Jan Steyn, without whom I wouldn’t have been able to write this book—my first reader, my favorite reader.