Every story needs help being born. This one would never have been conceived without L. Frank Baum, who provided the inspiration for Dorothy, my American heroine in a strange land.
I couldn’t do what I do without the support of my amazing editor, Cindy Hwang, associate editor Angela Kim, Jennifer Myers, Randie Lipkin, brilliant cover artist Colleen Reinhart, and the entire talented team at Berkley. Thank you! You are the very best midwives any writer could wish for.
Thanks to my wise agent, Robin Rue, and Beth Miller at Writers House, for being such an important part of labor and delivery.
I am so grateful to Bernice M. Murphy, Associate Professor in Popular Literature at Trinity College Dublin, for responding patiently to my emails, questions, and requests for selfies in her office. I’m so glad we finally got to meet! Thanks, too, to Deirdre Madden at the Oscar Wilde Centre for Creative Writing for providing me with the handbook, without which Dee and I would be still be floundering. The real-life Trinity College Dublin is where the true magic happens. I couldn’t have created my fictional TCD without you.
To my wonderful friends and companions (too many to name) on this writing journey, thank you! Special thanks to Sonali Dev, for helping bring Reeti to life and for all the “beats”; to Brenda Harlen, for endless encouragement and sound critiques; and to my deadline pals, Jamie Beck, Tracy Brogan, Sally Kilpatrick, Priscilla Oliveras, Barbara O’Neal, and Liz Talley, for keeping me sane.
Thanks to my mom and kids, who mostly remember not to call in the morning and generally put up with me.
To Michael, all my love, always, for telling me I can do this and then making it possible. Also, for the literary pub crawl through Dublin.
Thank you to librarians everywhere, who introduced me to the magic kingdom and provided escape and refuge.
And finally, thank you, readers, for coming along on the journey. You are the best.