Writing this novel was a dream come true for someone steeped in Shirley Jackson’s work from a very young age. I can’t offer enough gratitude to Laurence Jackson Hyman, Jackson’s son and literary executor, who entrusted me with this project and offered his suggestions and encouragement throughout the years it took to bring it to life.
Heartfelt thanks to my agent, Danielle Bukowski, for all her advice and support, and to everyone else at Sterling Lord Literistic, as well as to Murray Weiss, representative for the Shirley Jackson estate. Their combined efforts made this book possible.
Helen O’Hare, my editor at Mulholland Books, as ever did an exceptional job of reading, rereading, editing, and re-editing my work. Thanks, too, to my wonderful publicist, Alyssa Persons, and marketing director Bryan Christian for all their help, as well as to copyediting chief Betsy Uhrig. A big shout-out as well to Rosanna Forte, my UK editor at Sphere, who shares my love of ghost stories, haunted houses, and, of course, Shirley Jackson.
My Stonecoast colleague and friend Tom Coash offered insights and suggestions based on his long and successful career as a playwright (unlike Holly’s).
My daughter, Callie Hand, read an early draft and shared her comments, especially as regards who should and shouldn’t die at the end.
While writing this novel, I discovered the music of the extraordinary singer/songwriter Fern Maddie, whose rendition of “Hares on the Mountain” haunts Nisa’s own. (Longtime readers may recognize this as the same song I used as an epigraph for Waking the Moon many years ago, under the title “Maying Song.”) Check out Maddie’s work at fernmaddiemusic.com and https://fernmaddie.bandcamp.com.
Finally, my love to my partner, John Clute, as always my literary and emotional true north.