Houses remember.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Obviously the first thing I want to address in these acknowledgments is this: To all my friends, I assure you, not a single one of you is Chess. Pinkie promise. I am so lucky to be surrounded by such empowering, supportive friendships in real life, and I think having that is why I was able to take such a dark look into the Frenemy dynamic. I love y’all even though you’ve never paid for me to go to Italy for the summer, a real failing on all your parts, quite frankly.
I remain staggered by the lucky break that was landing Holly Root as my agent waaaay back in 2008, and am equally staggered at how well she has supported and encouraged me as my career has taken more twists than any of my novels. Emily may say that good agents aren’t necessarily good people, but Holly is the best of the best in both regards.
Sarah Cantin, dream editor, Virgo queen, I hope I get to send you a thousand more completely bonkers ideas that you help craft into the books they were always meant to be. It is such a privilege to get to work with someone who is as good at their job as you are.
Sallie Lotz, I’ll miss your notes on my stuff, but am so thankful we got to work on this one together, and am so excited for you and your authors as you move toward editorial superstardom!
I’m also so appreciative to Drue VanDuker. You blew me away from the jump with how smart you are and how quickly and instinctively you “got” this book.
Thank you so much to the entire team at St. Martin’s Press, and especially Sarah Bonamino, Marissa Sangiacomo, and Jessica Zimmerman. Thank you for all you do for me, and how patient you all are when I email you back in my head, as opposed to, you know, in an actual email.
Danielle Christopher, a huge part of why people pick up my books is, in my opinion, their gorgeous covers. Thank you so much for the thought, care, and artistry you put into each one.
Emilio, our tour guide in Orvieto in 2016, I am sorry that I did not listen as well as I should have when you were going over ecclesiastical art, but to be fair, there was a lot of it, and also it turns out my brain was busy plotting a murder book set there. I’m sure you understand. Special thanks for taking us to the well that plays such a big part in this story!
I always thank my husband in these acknowledgments, but he’s actually earned it this time, since he’s the whole reason we went to Italy in the first place. Thank you for signing up to teach a summer in Rome and for finding the best bus route so that I could go to Percy Shelley’s grave and tell him some things in person.
Thank you, William, for being my favorite travel companion.
And last, thanks to Mary Shelley. I don’t think I need to explain why.