To my readers opening this book in the summer of 2021, I think that it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge that, as I was deep in the final weeks of completing this manuscript, the world as we knew it utterly changed. We are enduring a pandemic; a renewal of the Civil Rights movement; and economic freefall. We are experiencing a presidential race like no other in terms of consequence. As I write this on August 3, 2020, you, my reader of the summer of 2021, will know how it all ends.
What you are holding in your hands, or listening to, or scrolling through, is the result of a tremendous amount of work and I don’t mean mine. I had the easy part. The rest of those named below not only had to create a book out of my words, but they had to do it at home while quarantined. All of this, from cover to copy edits, to design, was accomplished remotely. And it felt seamless to me. It also gave me the chance to learn how to use electronic tracking. Thank you to Sallie Lotz, Alexis Neuville, Maria Vitale, Lisa Davis, Donna Noetzel, Crystal Velasquez, and Young Lim. And at Macmillan, Abigail Starr, Matthew DeMazza, Samantha Edelson, Katy Robitzski, and Alyssa Keyne.
Without the team at the Jane Rotrosen Agency, none of this would ever happen. Thank you, Annelise, for your wise counsel, and Andrea, for sticking with me. Thank you also to Donald Cleary, Chris Prestia, Julianne Tinari, Michael Conroy, Sabrina Prestia, Hannah Rody-Wright, Ellen Tichler, and Hannah Strouth for keeping all the bits and pieces together.
My deepest gratitude to my extraordinary editor, Jennifer Enderlin. It means the world to me to continue to have your confidence in my work.
This is a book about finding family, and I have my own family to thank for helping me give Ruby a crash course in family research. Thank you to my cousin Deborah Thayer and to my husband, David, for their insights and guidance into what DNA and family research can (and cannot) reveal.
Lastly, to Cora, my furry little muse.