Thank you to my editor, Leslie Gelbman, for believing in this book; your astute editing skills, support and guidance are invaluable. And a special thank-you to my agent, Stephanie Kip Rostan, for your expertise and for guiding me through the world of publishing.
I am grateful to the entire team at St. Martin’s Press for bringing this book to life and sharing it far and wide, especially Erica Martirano, Marissa Sangiacomo, Dori Weintraub, Danielle Christopher, Donna Sinisgalli Noetzel, Sona Vogel, Gail Friedman, Elizabeth R. Curione and Lisa Bonvissuto. Thank you also the team at Levine Greenberg Rostan, particularly Courtney Paganelli, Melissa Rowland, Cristela Henriques and Miek Coccia. I understand now that publishing a book really does take a village.
I wrote most of The Show Girl at The Writers Room in New York City, which has provided me a peaceful and productive space to write for close to ten years, and I’m so thankful for my talented writing workshop novelists who continue to inspire me every Thursday night: Donna Brodie, Mario Gabriele, Barbara Gaines, Sam Garonzik, Joanie Leinwoll, Meryl Branch-McTiernan, Barbara Miller, Steve Reynolds and Rob Wolf, and especially our fearless leader, Jennifer Belle.
To my author and book-loving friends, and my early readers: Jamie Brenner, Fiona Davis, Suzy Leopold, Lynda Loigman, Amy Poeppel and Susie Orman Schnall, who have kept me sane through the last year with our weekly Zoom calls. I am extremely grateful to you all for your friendship and advice.
A huge thank-you to my friend and early reader Elisa Moriconi for your incredible friendship and support, to Suzanna Filip, for letting me write in your beautiful home, to my mother-in-law and trusted early reader Ginny Ray, and especially my parents, Michael and Jayne Harrison, for their constant love and support, and their tolerance for reading numerous revisions.
Much love to my boys, Christopher and Greyson, for joining me on this wild writing adventure—the books tours, the research trips, the many, many books lining our walls. And, above all, my love and gratitude to my husband, Greg—I cannot imagine any of this being possible without you.