Many people helped me along the way as I researched and wrote The Paradise Guest House. First among them is my fabulous editor, Jen Smith. Jen worked tirelessly on this novel, guiding me from draft to draft. She does her fine work with intelligence and grace. I feel incredibly lucky to work with her.
My agent, Sally Wofford-Girand, performs miracles. She sells books, foreign rights, movie rights, and in her spare time offers her insight, comfort, and assurance. Sally, you’re my rock.
Sometimes I feel like the happiest writer in publishing—because Ballantine has wrapped me in their arms and made me one of them. Jane Von Mehren, you’re an all-star.
Thanks also to Gina Wachtel, Leigh Marchant, Cindy Murray, Susan Corcoran, Hannah Elnan, Maggie Oberrender, and my team of heroes at Ballantine and Random House.
Many people read early drafts of this novel and helped my characters and me find our way in the dark. I couldn’t do it without you all. Thanks to Elizabeth Stark, Rosemary Graham, Nina Schuyler, Lalita Tademy, Antonya Nelson, Amanda Eyre Ward, Nick Taylor, Melissa Sarver, Boris Fishman, Kelli Fillingim, and Neal Rothman.
I spent a month in Bali doing research for The Paradise Guest House (best research job a writer could dream up!). I met so many people who opened their doors and let me in. Many, many thanks to my new friends in Bali: Sarah Laight, Alice Dill, Wayan Suka, Carolyn Kenwrick, William Ingram, Andrea and Nyoman Phillips, Patrick and Jenny Scott, Janet De Neefe, Daniel Aaron, Patti Bollen, Rupert Skinner at La Taverna, Howard Klein at the lovely Desa Seni Resort, and the women of the Bali Book Club. Rucina Ballinger, who has lived in Bali for many years, read the novel and corrected inaccuracies about her country and people. Thanks so much for that, Rucina. If there are any mistakes about Bali, the culture, or the history, those are mine. At home, Mindy Goodman, at Mountain Travel Sobek, shared her intimate knowledge of Bali and its people with me.
I’d especially like to thank the Organization YKIP (Yayasan Kemanusiaan Ibu Pertiwi), which was established after the bombings of 2002 and has continued as a living tribute to the 222 dead and 446 injured victims of the two blasts. Sri Damayanti (Ida) accompanied me on visits to many victims and widows of the 2002 terrorist attacks. I feel greatly indebted to those remarkable survivors and widows who shared their stories with me.
I want to thank Lily Hamrick for the title and Vicky Mlyniec for Thursday café writing days.
Thanks to Foundation La Napoule for the gift of five weeks to write. I finished The Paradise Guest House while I was in residency at Chateau La Napoule.
Finally, I couldn’t write a word without the daily infusion of love and support from Neal, Gillian, and Sophie.