Mary Page gave loads of her beautiful intelligence and wisdom to support the writing of this novel; I am so thankful to her. I’m filled with warmest gratitude for my agent Barney Karpfinger, and for Inge De Taeye and Agnes Krup at the Karpfinger Agency. I am grateful for all the good, hard work of my editor, Jill Bialosky, and her assistant, Evan Carver. Dake Ackley first introduced me to the Richard Wilbur poem, and Jutta Handte and Caroline Heller helped me figure out which Rilke translation to use. Betsy Lerner continues to nourish me as a writer, and I think the world of her. Sam Freedman, to whom this book is dedicated, taught me early on, by most graceful example, about following and honoring stories’ complexities. Above all I’m thankful for my parents (who couldn’t be less like those in this book), and for Reba and Andy, Joe, Rosy and George, and, so much, for Mike.