DEEPEST THANKS ARE owed to the inhabitants of Orient, who were, to a person, somewhat dismayed to hear I was setting a novel in their singular and bewitching village. I did not include your suggestions of mosquito plagues and tick-borne diseases as plot points, and I apologize for that. I am certain that anyone who stumbles on your hamlet will be met with the same generous welcome and good cheer that I received. Thank you to all who answered my questions and opened your doors to me, especially Jeanne Markel and Chris Wedge.
Orient is a real place, but the village portrayed in this book is part imagination. They do not celebrate Sneak Zucchini onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day, and the Belfry Museum resides only in my imagination, as do its board members. Instead, Orient is blessed with the excellent Oysterponds Historical Society Museum, which bears no resemblance to the Belfry whatsoever, and you will spend a delightful morning there if you visit it. A special thank-you to the stupendously talented baker and owner of the Orient Country Store, Miriam Foster, for the afternoon iced teas and perhaps the only factual element in the novel, the greatest salted oatmeal cookie in the world.
I’ve been an observer of museum culture in a spousal role for many years. It has been a marvelous place for a writer to perch. I thank every friend, acquaintance, and dinner partner who leaned over and told me a bit of gossip. Ninety-nine percent of the board members I’ve known or heard about have been exemplary examples of commitment and principle. This makes for great museums, but dull novels.
Heartfelt thanks and a deep bow to friends and fellow writers who read the manuscript at various stages and gave me excellent editorial advice and a kick in the pants: Deborah Heiligman, Rebecca Stead, Susan Scofield, and Donna Tauscher.
My agent, the brilliant Molly Friedrich, was instrumental in shaping this book by telling me what was wrong with it and ordering me to finish it. There are not enough pink peonies in the world to thank her for her fearlessness, acuity, and humor. Thank you to the shining star that is Lucy Carson and the team at The Friedrich Agency. You deserve more cookies than my husband can bake.
I could not ask for a better dream team than what I have at Random House Books. Gina Centrello, Susan Kamil, Andy Ward, and Maria Braeckel, you make my heart sing. Every writer wants an editor with a mind like a scalpel and a heart like a bear. Andrea Walker is that editor.
I owe my dearest ones, Neil Watson and Cleo Watson, the deepest thanks of all, for making my house such a joyful one.