Acknowledgments

I AM GRATEFUL TO have grown up in a home where books were valued both as texts and as physical objects, and for that I especially thank my father, Bob Lovett, who not only collected books but also taught literature. His passion for the eighteenth century and for Jane Austen led me into the world that much of this novel inhabits.

Humble thanks to Janice Lovett, whose wisdom has contributed to First Impressions as it has to so much of my writing; David Gernert and Anna Worrall, who saw the potential in a rough manuscript and gave me direction; and Lindsey Schwoeri for her expert editorial guidance. To the incomparable Kathryn Court I must express thanks for so much more than brilliant editing—the energy to write this novel is due in large part to her support and encouragement.

Thanks also to Stephanie Lovett for assistance with Latin, to Victoria Huxley for a lovely tour round Jane Austen’s Adlestrop, to the Wake Forest University library and Megan Mulder for allowing me to handle (and even read) their first edition of Pride and Prejudice, to Mark and Catherine Richards for so much hospitality in their book-filled Maida Vale flat, and to Chris and Delphie Stockwell for helping me understand English gardens and so much else about life in Oxfordshire.

In addition to William Austen-Leigh and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh’s Jane Austen: Her Life and Letters, I am particularly indebted to the anonymous work The History of Printing, published in London by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in 1855.

To all those at the Gernert Company and Penguin Books who have brought my work to the world—especially Will Roberts, Rebecca Gardner, Rebecca Lang, Annie Harris, and Scott Cohen—I am eternally grateful.

Finally, thanks must go to my family, in particular to the aforementioned Janice, whose patience, love, and support make being a writer possible, and to Jordan and Lucy—my children not only inspire me; they also read my novels.