To my amazing editor, Victoria Wilson. Her painstaking work has shown me what great editing entails. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with you and with this iconic publisher. To my agents, Carolyn French and especially Don Fehr. Thank you, more than I can say, for believing in this book through all the rewrites. Thank you also to Audrey Silverman.
To the Fulbright Commission for Franco-American Relations. To Jeannette Ambrose, Pronob and Sara Mitter, Dominique Masson, and others who found me places in which to write this book. To Odile Hellier especially.
To friends Kate Frank, Elena Dodd, Marilyn Taylor, and Jennifer Mascola. To Jeannette Littman, Virginia Larner, Claire Bruyëre, Robert and Gail Melson, Keith Winstein, Eva Hoffman, Elizabeth Knoll, and others. To my cousins, Marilyn Rinzler and Elizabeth Morse, who share so much with me. To the gifted Victoria Root: a special thank-you.
To beloved France, which has continued to examine its dark World War II history, notably during the capture of Klaus Barbie and the Maurice Papon trials. To the work of historian Robert Paxton, and to Mavis Gallant, Martine Beck, Sylvie Weil, and Hazel Rowley. To Jean-Pierre Ledoux, who took me to see important sites. To Inge Hoffmann and her seminar, who explore ways of understanding the past.
To my parents, who read the first draft, were surprised, and—would you believe it?—laughed in all the right places. To my mother, Doris Drucker, who explored and shared her past with me. And, of course, always to my father, Peter Drucker, who gave me the little confidence I have. To Nova Spivack, helpful reader, and Joseph Murray, my steadfast companion. To Marin Spivack for his thoughtful support.
To memory: its denials and recognitions. To my characters, especially those over a “certain age.” To the refuge of New York. To the Grimm/grim world of childhood.
To the American Academy of Rome. To Vienna, and its attempts to present itself as a frothy pastry shop. To teachers, who gave me a voice. To the solace of reading. To the music that I love and have played, which animates this book.
To “my America, my new-found land!”
Thank you,
Kathleen Spivack