This novel was a tough one. Thank you to my agent, Adam Chromy, for being a tireless sounding board and reader of the dreaded first drafts. (I’m sorry if I sometimes shoot the messenger.) I want to thank my extraordinary editor, Judy Clain, for asking all the right questions to help me dig deeper into this story and get it to the finish line. Alexandra Hoopes, thank you for your valuable input. To my rock-star publicist Maggie Southard Gladstone, I appreciate everything you do. Ashley Marudas and Lauren Passell, thank you for your energy and creativity in getting these books out there. Reagan Arthur and Craig Young, I am so fortunate to be working with you and the entire team at Little, Brown.
A special thank-you to Tanya Biank, author of Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage, for generously taking the time to read an early draft of this novel and answering my questions about military life. Any errors are entirely my own.
Thanks also to Donna McCarthy, owner of Hannah-G’s restaurant in Ventnor, New Jersey (the inspiration for Nora’s Café), Ellen Rosenberg of the Lower Merion Ice Hockey Club, and the Jewish Book Council.
I am grateful for the incredible support of the Great Thoughts’ Great Readers community and its creator, Andrea Peskind Katz. Andrea, you are one of a kind and I look forward to many more book adventures with you. A shout-out to Robin Kall Homonoff and her fabulous Point Street Reading Series! Brenda Janowitz, I cherish our friendship.
Research for this book brought me back to my beloved Jersey Shore, where I spent the best summers of my life with my family. Thanks to Aunt Harriet and Uncle Paul Robinson, my cousin Alison Anmuth, and my father, Michael Weisman, for joining me on a spontaneous day trip to Longport in the summer of August 2016. I wish we could do it more often!
Finally, thank you to my husband, who saw me through my own dark hour. I love you.