To those who sustain the area resources that were of benefit to this book, including the sites of Historic Germantown, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the Haverford College Libraries Quaker and Special Collections, the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, and the Germantown Historical Society.
To Alex Bartlett, Sid Cook, Kristina Haugland, Emma Lapsansky-Werner, Jonathan Maberry, Irv Miller, David Odell, Steven Peitzman, Lisa Pergolizzi-Brock, Suzanne Prigohzy, Lynn Rosen, Susan Gregory Thomas, Jacqueline Wolf, and Simone Zelitch for your time and guidance.
To Mary Bailey, Arnold Benton, Suzanne Benton, Jane Carroll, Stephen Frank, Lisa Kopel, Jennifer Lowman, Frances Nadel, Carol O’Donoghue, Suzanne Rotondo, Ilene Raymond Rush, Deborah Shaw, and David Updike for your valuable responses and support.
To Anne Dubuisson, Natasha Kassell, and the Spinners (Susan Martel, Ellen Murphey, and Lori Weinrott) for your sustaining input and motivating deadlines.
To the hundreds of writing students and clients who’ve entrusted me with your works in progress and taught me much about writing and life, and to my former teacher Valerie Martin, whose keen mind and example I’ve treasured.
To my wise and kind agent and editors, Jane von Mehren, Nan Talese, and Ronit Wagman, for loving Lilli’s voice from the first sentence to the last and for giving this book a caring home.
To Carolyn Williams and Daniel Meyer, helpful, smart, and gracious; Pei Loi Koay, book designer; and Michael J. Windsor, book-jacket genie, as well as the many others at Doubleday and Penguin Random House who’ve moved this book into the world, including Todd Doughty, Victoria Chow, and Lauren Weber.
To Dori Ostermiller, gifted writer, for more than two decades of joyful and life-sustaining friendship, and to all my life-sustaining friends and family, whom I dearly love.
To my father, Arnold Benton, for your honesty and caring, and for teaching me that every phenomenon can be known from many points of view.
To my mother, Suzanne Benton, for raising and sustaining me in your loving and creative spirit, and for teaching me that one’s understanding of history depends entirely on where one looks.
To my husband, David, and our daughter, Dariel: Living with you and loving you are my greatest pleasures and sources of growth. My home is where you are.
Though writers work alone, we sit as if shoulder to shoulder with all who value stories, and aim our efforts toward those who might find value in them.
In other words, to you, reader.
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Janet Benton’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Glimmer Train, and many other publications. She has cowritten and edited historical documentaries for television. She holds a B.A. in religious studies from Oberlin College and an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and for decades she has been an editor, taught writing, and helped individuals and organizations craft their stories. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter. Lilli de Jong is her first novel. Visit her at www.janetbentonauthor.com.