Soon, the desert will shimmer with unbearable heat and the sand will be scorching beneath our feet.
“Friend,” Alice says, standing. She reaches for my hand, and with surprising strength she lifts me up. Together, we begin walking.
For Kevin
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to thank my longtime agent and friend, Valerie Borchardt, as well as Anne Borchardt. You are both amazing.
Thanks again to my brilliant editor, Kate Miciak, for her vision and infectious enthusiasm. Thanks to Kara Welsh for supporting this book, and to the wonderful team at Penguin Random House: Julia Maguire, Kim Hovey, Cindy Murray, Janet Wygal, Quinne Rogers, Susan Turner, and Jennifer Prior.
Thanks to Jay Phelan and Terry Burnham for their thoughts and writings on gift-giving. Thanks to Bill U’Ren, of course. Thanks to Ivana Lombardi, Kira Goldberg, and Peter Chernin for believing in this story. Many thanks to the publishers and translators around the world who embraced this book; I hope to meet you someday. Thanks to Jolie Holland and Timothy Bracy for the lyrics.
The great Leonard Cohen used to address his audience with the word “Friends.” Much of this book was written with the album Live in London playing in the background.
Thanks to Kathie and Jack for a thousand small graces. Thanks to Oscar for his insights on plot. Above all, thanks to Kevin for more than two decades of unexpected gifts, including this one.