ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I could never have written this novel without all the kindness and generosity I received along the way. Thanks to Jennifer de la Fuente for her help, candor, and resourcefulness. Thanks to Hilary Rubin Teeman for her incredible feedback and guidance; I can’t imagine the book without her input.

Mahalo to my invaluable early readers: Malia Collins, Stuart Holmes Coleman, Kristiana Kahakauwila, Paul Diamond, and David Fogelson. Thanks especially to J. Reuben Appelman, the brilliant writer and critic, whose honesty, insight, and enthusiasm have been indispensible to my work.

The bulk of this novel was written in a four-hundred-square-foot apartment that’s always hot, often loud, and occasionally overrun with ants. There’s nobody on earth I could share it with other than Dabney Gough. Thanks for her patience, her support, and her constant inspiration.

Most importantly, I owe a great big gracias to all of the wonderful friends with whom I shared my time in El Salvador. My superiors in the country office were the best bosses I’ve ever had. My fellow volunteers were the greatest colleagues I’ll ever know. I’m particularly indebted to the many wonderful Salvadorans who accepted and looked after me—particularly those from the Ayala family of Cantón Palo Grande. The beauty, warmth, and resilience of that country and its people have never stopped affecting me.