This book is the brainchild of my agent, Vicky Bijur, who dreamed it up and shaped it throughout the entire process. Alexandra Franklin’s thoughtful comments were always interesting, and David Duncan gets credit for the book starting with tribes rather than immigrants. Elisabeth Dyssegaard’s deft guidance over the past three years coaxed this book from an inkling to a fully fledged concept, and her editing was a work of art. Thanks to my husband, Bob Lang, for just about everything else, including fixing the irrigation pump and plowing the drive. Grateful doesn’t begin to describe it.