Libby McGuire kept a steady hand on the wheel as she guided this book to publication. I’m grateful to her and to Simon & Schuster CEO Jon Karp.
This is the second book I’ve written with Lindsay Sagnette, whose smart, thoughtful suggestions improved the plot and the characters immensely.
Ariele Fredman is a genius publicist. She works hard, she’s funny, she’s good company, and she is mother to one of the most charming little girls you’ll ever meet.
Dana Trocker is a marketing wizard, and every writer should be lucky enough to work with someone with her energy and smarts.
I’m grateful to everyone on the Atria team: Maudee Genao and Karlyn Hixson in the marketing department and Suzanne Donahue and Nicole Bond, who handle my backlist and worldwide sales. In the art department, my thanks to James Iacobelli, who always makes my books look good, and to designer and illustrator Olga Grlic.
Thanks to Chris Lynch, Sarah Lieberman, and Elisa Shokoff in the audio department.
Big, big thanks to the assistants, who are unfailingly helpful and smart and will be in charge of everything someday: Libby’s assistant, Kitt Reckord-Mabicki; Lindsay’s assistant, Fiora Elbers-Tibbitts; and Joanna’s assistant, Opal Theodossi.
Dhionelle Clayton did her usual perceptive job of editing this book, and her suggestions made it stronger.
I’m grateful to my agent, Joanna Pulcini, for all her hard work, on this book and on all my books.
Thanks, as always, to my assistant, Meghan Burnett, whose indefatigable good nature and good cheer made the isolation feel less lonely, and who, in addition to her stellar work handling all aspects of my working world, has become one of my trusted first readers.
Sarah Christensen Fu keeps my website spiffy and my newsletter on schedule.
Out in Hollywood, I’m grateful for the help of Michelle Weiner （no relation） and to my brothers, Jake and Joe Weiner （relations）。 And, on a very practical level, I’m grateful to everyone at the UPS Store on Fourth and Bainbridge, who acted as a miniature warehouse/shipping center/office during the pandemic and were unfailingly helpful, whether they were printing manuscripts or shipping books or towels or Girl Scout cookies. Thanks to Scott Vradelis and to Dennis Jardel, Ben Quach, Victor Rivera, Alix Fequiere, and Henry Vradelis.
I am grateful to all of the librarians and the booksellers who have hosted me for events, who’ve recommended my books to readers and recommended other people’s books to me. Thank you for loving stories and for treating readers and writers with such generosity and kindness.
Of all the characters I’ve written, Beatrice Shoemaker is one of my favorites, and she’s very much inspired by my own girls. I’m grateful to my daughter Phoebe, who is sweet and caring, who asks me “How was your day?” and actually cares about the answer, and especially to my daughter Lucy, who is funny and opinionated, for her help in explaining teen culture and social media, for occasionally letting me look at her Finsta, and for not being as difficult IRL as Beatrice was in fiction. It’s true what they say: the hours can feel long, but the years go by fast. Lucy’s gone from being a baby to a little girl to an almost-adult playwright/director/stage manager in training, on her way to college, and it has been such a privilege to be her mom. The world is imperfect and there’s still a lot of work to be done, but my daughters and their friends give me faith that the kids are going to save us all.
I am grateful to Bill Syken, husband and first reader, for his love and support, for being calm when I’m not, for his wonderful cooking and for laughing at （most of） my jokes. There’s no one I’d rather quarantine with. And, of course, my dog, Moochie, is a loyal muse and a faithful companion.
My mom, Fran Weiner, and her partner, Clair Kaplan, probably love and appreciate Cape Cod more than anyone. I am grateful to my mother for introducing me to the Cape, and to Clair for teaching me and my daughters how to clam. And, of course, I am grateful to you, my readers, for your willingness to come sit beside me and let me tell you a story.
Finally, Carolyn Reidy, who died unexpectedly in 2020, was a force in the world of publishing. She was the president and CEO of Simon & Schuster and one of the very first people to believe in me as a writer. She published my first book, and every book since then, and was a tremendous advocate and a brilliant editor. When I was stuck, her suggestions would be pithy and direct, and pretty much always right. When I was done, she’d read an early version and send me a long, beautifully written letter about specific scenes she liked or lines of dialogue she appreciated. I was always grateful for her contributions to my books and for her advocacy of me and of women in publishing. Carolyn was one of the smartest and best-read people I’ve ever met. She understood how fiction worked, and, maybe more important, she understood how writers work. She was a pioneer who opened doors for the generations of women who came behind her. I was lucky to have worked with her and proud to have been one of her authors.