Acknowledgements

Writing is a solitary pursuit; nonetheless, there are many people to thank for this novel’s birth. My thanks to DEA Agent Eric Brown of Camden, New Jersey, for his insights into methamphetamine production and the sorts of booby traps agents find in meth labs. My thanks to Lily Krauss for encouragement and for turning my scribbled map of Gideon into something that felt real for me; to Susan Applewhaite, Barry Callaghan, Michael Crummey and Holly Hogan, Cecilia Davis, Lynne and Van Davis, Larry and Miranda Hill, Isabel Huggan, Barbara Johnson, Holly Johnson, Krystal Knapp, Lisa Pasold, Michael Rowe, Harriet Stewart, Jane Urquhart, Sister Rita Woehlcke and others who shone a light into the darkness. Gratitude, always, to Bill Whitehead and Timothy Findley (even though Tiff’s not with us, I will always feel his hand on my shoulder as I edit). Thanks also go to my agents, Kim Witherspoon and David Forrer at Inkwell Management, who helped shape the manuscript and never stopped believing; and to the Canada Council for the Arts, whose grant made the writing of this book possible. My unending gratitude goes to Duff Brenna; without him this novel would have remained in my desk drawer; to David Memmott, for supporting literary fiction; to Geoffrey Taylor and Christine Saratsiotis at the International Festival of Authors; and, at HarperCollins Canada, to the visionary David Kent, Iris Tupholme, Terry Toews, Rob Firing and Maylene Loveland.

Although a work of fiction, this book was inspired by events surrounding Nova Scotia’s Goler Clan. Some of the dialogue during the trial in the final chapter is taken from transcripts I found in On South Mountain—The Dark Secrets of the Goler Clan, by David Cruise and Alison Griffiths. I want to acknowledge my appreciation to Cruise and Griffiths for their book.

The sermons at the beginning of various chapters came, in some cases, solely from my imagination. Others are direct quotes. The sermon quote by Reverend Charles G. Finney is taken from an article published in The Oberlin Evangelist, September 29, 1852, entitled “The Salvation of Sinners Impossible,” and the one at the beginning of Chapter Ten (although attributed in the text to the fictional Reverend Joshua Cotton), is excerpted from another Finney article in the same publication, entitled, “The Wrath of God Against Those Who Withstand His Truth,” December 9, 1857. The quote at the beginning of Chapter Seven comes from a sermon delivered by Reverend Sam P. Jones on August 2, 1885, at a camp-meeting near Cincinnati, Ohio. The poem quoted at the beginning of Chapter Fourteen is excerpted from “Tom Gray’s Dream,” written by Illinois poet Retta M. Brown. The quote at the beginning of Chapter Nineteen is excerpted from a pamphlet first published in 1960 by Herbert W. Armstrong, The Ten Commandments.

Lastly, I thank my husband, Ron, because every time I get lost in the dark woods he finds me and leads me home.