More than ever, love and thanks to my wife, Nicole, and our son, Jack, both of whom supported this multiyear trip to an imaginary eighteenth century. They encouraged me from the start and spent many a patient hour listening to baroque music, visiting old taverns, and hearing me talk about Molly, Tom, and Nicholas.
This book’s roots extend back to my childhood, when my parents exposed me to stories that thrilled me. Those early experiences eventually blended with my own son’s love of story, and gave me—in middle age—a jolt of youthful energy. I fear I would have shriveled up, writing increasingly anemic books, if not for the blood transfusion of fatherhood.
I wrote the first part of Bell Weather in the company of our cat, Max, now deceased, and the second part with our dog, Bones. I love them both. Arlen Johnson helped me road test the plot. Nathan Kotecki helped me refine an early draft. C. J. Lais gave me humbling amounts of input and opportunities to ramble, and has been the best literary wingman imaginable.
My aunt Catherine remains a paragon of auntly greatness and has more terrific anecdotes than a frontier tavern keeper.
Richard Pine believed in this book well before I finished it. Several of his clients referred to him as “kind” before I signed with him, and it’s true—he’s a gentleman of the old school and a pleasure to know. Thanks also to Eliza Rothstein, Alexis Hurley, Nathaniel Jacks, and everyone at InkWell Management.
Michael Signorelli brought gusto and vision to the editing and publishing of Bell Weather. His suggestions made the story leaner and stronger, and I’ve always felt the book had his heartiest devotion. I’m glad to call him a friend. Thanks also to Stella Tan, Kenn Russell, Will Staehle, Stephen Rubin, Emily Kobel, Maggie Richards, Jason Liebman, Ebony LaDelle, Carolyn O’Keefe, and everyone at Henry Holt and Company. Ellen Pyle: I salute you.
Thanks to my friends Kurtis Albright and Melissa Batalin. Kurt’s my right-hand man in lots of regular adventures and home-improvement high jinks. Melissa illustrated the astonishing maps included in this book, which are based on terribly drawn outlines I gave her. The lady is an artist.
Special thanks to all the readers and booksellers—especially Market Block Books in Troy, New York—who supported my previous novel.
Thanks to Corelli, Muffat, Handel, and Neil Gow’s dead second wife. Cheers to Pratt & Pratt Archaeological Consultants, Inc., for providing info on Hartwell Tavern in Massachusetts, which served as the basis for the Orange. Additional thanks to the anonymous author of the old sea lyric, “Oh, ’twas in the Broad Atlantic,” which I warped into Molly’s mermaid song.
If anyone wishes to blend smoak-inspired coffee, I would very much like to hear about it. You can find me online at AuthorDennisMahoney.com and @Giganticide. I’ll do my best to answer all emails.