Thank you to The House of Love team at Viking, who brought joy during the process of writing this novel, while my first children’s book was illustrated by the incomparable Amy June Bates. Thank you to my brilliant editor Tamar Brazis and her team: Olivia Russo, Ken Wright, Denise Cronin, Lucia Baez, Jed Bennett, Leah Schiano, Alex Garber, Lauren Festa, Carmela Iaria, Summer Ogata, and Shanta Newlin.
Thank you, Ernestine Roller and Billie Jean Scott, the librarians who welcomed me into their school libraries in Big Stone Gap with open hearts. I owe a great a debt to them.
My evermore thanks to: Jean and Jake Morrissey （the only two friends in the world who would actually pick up the phone at 2 a.m.）， Tony Krantz and Kristin Dornig, George Dvorsky, Bruce Feiler, Mary Ellen Fedeli, Ron Block, Dorothy Isaac, Dianne and Andy Lerner, Spencer Salley, Jayne Muir, Nigel Stoneman and Charles Fotheringham, Kim Isaac DeHart, Liza （Brian） and Jamie （Mark） Persky, Ali Feldon, Alan and Robin Zweibel, Lou and Berta Pitt, Doris Gluck, Tom Dyja, Wiley Hausam, Dagmara Domincyzk and Patrick Wilson, Philip Grenz, Christina and Willie Geist, Joyce Sharkey, Jody and Bill Geist, Jackie and Paul Wilson, Sister Robbie Pentecost, Karen Johnson, Roland LeBreton, Steven Williams and Michael Stillman, Heather and Peter Rooney, Aaron Hill and Susan Fales-Hill, Mary K and John Wilson, Jim and Kate Benton Doughan, Joanna Patton, Polly Flanigan, Michael Morrison, Angelina Fiordellisi and Matt Williams, Michael La Hart and F. Todd Johnson, Richard and Dana Kirshenbaum, Karen and Gary Hall, Michael and Rosemarie Filingo, Nancy and Jimmie Kilgore, and Kenny Sarfin.
I am honored to be published so elegantly in the country of my roots. Thank you to the team at Tre60 in Milan: Stefano Res, Cristina Prasso, Chiara Ferrari, Valentina Russo, Barbara Trianni, and Giulia Tonelli.
Thank you to the glorious women whose friendship I treasure: the great attriche Mary Testa, Ruth Pomerance, Elena Nachmanoff, Dianne Festa, Wendy Luck, Jasmine Guy, Jane Cline Higgins, Helene Bapis, Monique Gibson, Liz Travis, Cate Magennis Wyatt, Sharon Ewing, Kathy McElyea, Mary Deese Hampton, Sharon Gauvin, Dori Grafft, Dana Chidekel, Mary Murphy, Nelle Fortenberry, Dee Emmerson, Norma Born, Christina Avis Krauss, Rebecca Pepin, Jueine D’Alessandro, Barbara Benson, Eleanor Jones, Veronica Kilcullen, Andrea Lapsley, Mary Ellinger, Iva Lou Johnson, Betty Fleenor, Nancy Ringham Smith, Michelle Baldacci, Sheila Mara, Hoda Kotb, Kathy Ryan, Jenna Elfman, Janet Leahy, Courtney Flavin, Susie Essman, Aimee Bell, Constance Marks, Becky Browder Neustadt, Connie Shulman, Sharon Watroba Burns, Sister Karol Jackowski, Elaine Martinelli, Karen Fink, Sarah Choi, Robie Scott, Pamela Stallsmith, Candyce Williams, Margo Shein, Robyn Lee, Carol Fitzgerald, Robin Homonoff, Zibby Owens, and Kathy Schneider. Thank you, Betty Cline, my honorary mother.
More gratitude and love to: Emma and Tony Cowell, Hugh and Jody Friedman O’Neill, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Leonardis, Dolores Pascarelli, Eileen, Ellen, and Patti King, Sharon Hall and Todd Kessler, Charles Randolph Wright, Judy Rutledge, Greg and Tracy Kress, Mary Ellen Keating, Lorenzo Carcaterra, Max and Robyn Westler, Tom and Barbara Sullivan, Brownie and Connie Polly, Beáta and Steven Baker, Todd Doughty and Randy Losapio, Craig Fissé, Steve and Anemone Kaplan.
When they say you never stop grieving the loss of your mother, they are right. I thought about my mom, Ida Bonicelli Trigiani, a great deal during the process of writing this book. My grandmothers were with me during the process. Somehow, my grandmother Viola Perin Trigiani found her way into the subconscious of Matelda Roffo and stayed there. My dad, Anthony, is never far from my thoughts when I write about the creative life and/or dictators. （He would find that hilarious. Maybe.）
I thank my brothers and sisters, their husbands, wives, and families. Dave and Carol Stephenson are about the best in-laws you could hope for—their son, my husband Tim, can fix anything, including broken spirits. He’s stuck with me and that’s that.
I am grateful to two priests. Reverend Joseph M. McShane, the great Jesuit, has given his life and heart to Fordham University, among others. He leaves a long shadow. And secondly, to the priest at Saint Andrew’s Cathedral in Glasgow, who invited me to visit the garden in honor of the Italian Scots who perished on the Arandora Star. A chance encounter sparked this novel and a true story was revealed that changed the way I look at the world. Father, though I don’t know your name, I will never forget you. Mille grazie.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adriana Trigiani is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty books of fiction and nonfiction, including The Shoemaker’s Wife. Her books have been published in thirty-eight languages around the world. She is an award-winning playwright, television writer/producer, and filmmaker. Among her screen credits, Trigiani wrote and directed the major motion picture adaptation of her debut novel, Big Stone Gap. Adriana grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where she co-founded the Origin Project. Trigiani is proud to serve on the New York State Council on the Arts. She lives in New York City with her family.