These characters have been haunting me for years. I sat down at my kitchen table for six years and let them speak. Thank you, dear reader, for picking up this book and allowing them to come to life. I wish to express deep gratitude to the following first readers for their inspiring words and support: Jerry Thompson, Andy Weiner, Lucille Lang Day, Roberta Lee Tennant, Abby Abinanti, Nanette Deetz, and Chris Lombardi. Many thanks to Kirsten Johanna Allen for bearing witness to my work with her profound insight and expertise and all the talented staff at Torrey House Press: Kathleen Metcalf, Mark Bailey, Rachel Davis, Brooke Larsen, and Anne Terashima. I am so honored to include Lucille Clifton’s poem; many thanks to Jerry Thompson for facilitating the permissions, Lucille Clifton’s family, and Rachel Davis. Special thanks to my sister Lisa Terrell for sharing her knowledge about our ancestors, and Elaine Dennis, Liz McCarthy, Olivia Dempster, and Robin Greenberg for their ongoing support. Works in Progress has been an invaluable group where I was able to share the first scenes of my novel; thank you, Linda Zeiser and Carolyn Zeiser, for facilitating this safe creative space for women artists. Lastly, thanks to the hummingbirds, ocean, rivers, and the earth, to my ancestors and their untold stories, may they be released and healed.
Woliwon.