My sincere thanks to the Centre national du livre (CNL) and the Association Montargue in French Guiana, without whose financial support this book would nonetheless certainly have been written, but under much more difficult conditions.
To Line Colson at the Boutique d’Écriture de Montpellier, thank you for having given me the space to develop the first drafts of this book, for our discussions, and for your candour, which helped me get out of my comfort zone.
To Julianna Rimane and Denis Gerval at the Montargue Association in Kourou, your generous welcome and your dedication to literature and culture moved me immensely during my last writing trip to Guyana. Thank you for all your kindness.
To Rachel at Éditions du remue-ménage, you have supported me for twenty years, and I have benefited greatly from your rigour; thank you.
To Valérie Lefebvre-Faucher, thank you for your close and constructive reading and re-reading.
To my friend Clorinde Zéphir, thank you for being so generous and so present throughout the years when I was working on this novel.
To Didier C. for your support and kindness, a balm in hard times.
To all of my friends who carried this project with me, thank you for listening and for your encouragement.
Marie-Célie Agnant
Montréal, 2008
Montpellier, 2011–2012
Kourou, French Guiana, 2013
Montréal, 2015