Acknowledgements

First and foremost to my agent, Samantha Haywood, who pushed this novel to be the best it could be and whose faith never wavered; and to Meghan Macdonald, also at TLA, who was the book’s first true champion. This novel would not be where it is today without the help of these two wonderful women, and for that I am so grateful.

To Michael Holmes for his excellent editorial advice; Jenna Illies, my publicist, for her excitement and enthusiasm and for auctioning off a galley copy of Miracles in lieu of a Secret Santa gift; and Carolyn McNeillie, Crissy Boylan, Erin Creasey, and all the rest of the lovely folk at ECW.

To John Burnside, Meaghan Delahunt, Oliver De La Fosse, and David MacCormack, teachers and colleagues at the University of St. Andrews back in 2008, who all read and commented on the novel in its embryonic stages. And to John, especially, for bringing Joni Mitchell into the story.

To Natalie Olsen at Kisscut Design, for reaching right into the heart of this novel and giving it the perfect cover.

To Sarah Taggart, who read and commented on the terrible first draft before I sent it off into the world.

To Steph VanderMeulen, copy-editor and friend extraordinaire, who had exactly the kind of ruthless, infinite heart that this book so badly needed.

To Nick and Rhian Wright, who were there with champagne when the journey of this book took a turn for the better.

To Jess DeSanta, who has always known exactly what to say during bad cases of the writerly blues.

To Trevor Cole, for the gift of a jacket photo, and for telling me not to give up right when I needed it the most.

To Mike Cramer and Tricia Sinclair, who talk me up to their accomplished friends even though I don’t deserve it, and whose house is still my favourite place to finish writing books.

To my aunt, Virginia Brown, who gave me my first ever Writer’s Kit (complete with Skin Thickening Cream!) when I was in my teens. The skin thickener didn’t work, but I made good use of those Papermate pens.

I am indebted to a large number of writers and readers who kept me company during the long (and altogether much scarier than I’d imagined) journey to publication. I am going to attempt a list, although I’m most likely forgetting a person or two. I apologize in advance: Angie Abdou, Elissa Bergman, Heidi Bischoff (and the original Chickenhead), Kris Bertin, Trevor Corkum, Clare Coyle, Ally Crockford, Andy Foreman, Krista Foss, Julie Gordon, Steven Heighton, Leigh Hensley, Miranda Hill, Nina Iyer, Will Johnson, Barb and John Jolliffe (a.k.a. the Reverend Mother and Holy Father), Sinéad Keegan, Pamela King, Susan Lewandowski, Sabrina L’Heureux, Maggie MacIntyre, Heather Middlemiss, Troy Palmer, Jessica Rose, Tom-Paul Smith, Sarah-Jane Summers, Ayelet Tsabari, Linda Tuthill, Helen Walton, Liz Windhorst-Harmer, Deborah Willis, Allegra Young, and Vicki Ziegler.

I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Ontario Arts Council, whose gift of a Writers’ Reserve grant allowed me precious time and space to put the finishing touches on the book.

Lastly, and most importantly, I owe a lifetime’s worth of gratitude to my parents, Raymond and Debra Leduc, and my siblings, Allison, Alex, and Aimee Leduc, for believing in this novel and supporting my crazy (and expensive) writer whims. For texting me halfway across the world with title suggestions, fighting over who got to read the manuscript first, and devising master plans to usurp the “Heather’s Picks” stickers at Indigo—my love and thanks, forever.