Acknowledgments

I am extraordinarily grateful to many people for helping me with Cornelia—whoever said that writing is a solitary profession? Since I began this project, my life has been bursting at the seams with lavish personalities. And I would like to pass on my adorations to all of them:

First, I am deeply indebted to my wonderful editor, Erin Clarke at Knopf, and my superb agent, Christine Earle at ICM. I couldn’t be luckier that Cornelia found her way into their hands, these two grandes dames in training. Ladies, may our triumvirate set a new standard in the world of neoclassical middle-grade fiction.

And of course, where would I ever be without the support and encouragement of Jeff Berg and, in turn, Jim Brooks? I am exceedingly beholden to both of them (like everyone else in Los Angeles and New York, I suspect). Gentlemen, I cannot thank you enough, and for the record, I promise to show up at dinner next time.

Obviously, I would like to thank my mother, Franny, for her unwavering encouragement and vicious edits…oh, and for being a glorious pianist and basically inspiring the entire plot of this book. Mom, merci beaucoup for allowing me to exploit your entire career and social coterie as material for Cornelia. I warn you: this isn’t the end, for I know there’s a lot left to pilfer.

Now I need to turn my attention to Miss Caitlin Crounse, whose devotion and contributions to this book have been on a par with my own. Her beautiful insights about the characters and nature of children’s literature provided me with invaluable inspiration at every stage. I couldn’t have asked for a more magnificent creative cohort.

I am grateful to Gregory Richard Macek, my very own bête noire, for being a stalwart of support, adulation, and foolery throughout this process and so much longer. I’d also like to thank him for his first-time reaction to the eleventh chapter, which nearly broke my heart.

And very importantly, I am much obliged to Miss Sarah Lyon and her mother, Jenny Sour, for their insights into the social world of bookish eleven-year-olds, therefore making plausible to children what is otherwise a work about the lives of sophisticated adults. My thanks also to Sara Just for introducing me to these ladies in what was probably the most unusual booking job she’d done in a long time.

Finally, on a quiet, solemn note, I would like to thank Daisy, whose bohemian vitality and precipitous departure first inspired the idea for Cornelia. She will long be remembered with wistful affection by those she left behind.