Acknowledgments

If a first book is the book of your heart, I think a second book is the one of determination and grit. Not because writing a second book is harder (it is in many ways, but also much easier in others), but because a second book is where you have to start growing as a writer, a person, and a teller of tales.

To help me grow, I’m lucky to have a great number of people supporting me along the way.

Thanks to my agent, Jennie Goloboy, who diligently listened to every random idea, question, and concern I volleyed her way.

Thanks to my editor, John Joseph Adams, for said two books and for letting me have room to figure out what that meant.

A big thanks to all movers and shakers behind the scenes, both at HMH and Penguin UK, who made things happen, and in particular: Jaime Levine, Kasim Mohammed, Fariza Hawke, Hannah Dirgins, Lisa McAuliffe, Heather Tamarkin, Alison Kerr Miller, Martha Kennedy, Liz Anderson, and Rachel Kennedy. With a special shout out to Hillary Wilson and Henry Petrides for their cover work.

Thanks as always to my parents, my sisters, and the rest of my family, who showed me all the various ways support and love can take form.