Part of the challenge—and excitement—in writing fiction inspired by history is bringing the place and time alive in the pages so readers become immersed. Many people provided insight and guidance in furthering my understanding of life in Portugal and the Madeira Archipelago over two hundred and fifty years ago. Any errors are mine.
My thanks to the people of Porto Santo for your welcome and your openmindedness concerning the characters I created who might have lived on your island. On Madeira, thank you to the city of Funchal, with your fascinating chronicles of sea exploration and wine production. The knowledgeable guides at the Blandy Wine Lodge helped me envision the scenes for Kipling’s wine lodge. On mainland Portugal, thank you to Rui Carvalho at Vinihold in Vila Nova de Gaia for sharing your expertise on winemaking.
And thank you Lisbon, glorious Lisbon, for your passionate history and for nights of fado. Uncovering the stories of Lisbon’s 1755 earthquake and tsunami furthered my desire to write about this era.
My gratitude also goes to Albino Silva of Toronto for the use of your home in Ferragudo in the Algarve of Portugal. The first startling images for Diamantina’s story came into my mind as I stood on the windswept, most southwestern point of land at Cabo de San Vincente near Sagres.
Both inspiration and special insights came from Madeira, the Island Vineyard by Noel Cossart; The Blandys of Madeira by Marcus Binney; Madeira: Of Islands and Women by Susanna Hoe; Jose Saramago’s Baltasar and Blimunda; The Madness of Queen Maria by Jennifer Roberts; Letters of a Portuguese Nun by Myriam Cyr; and Chica da Silva: A Brazilian Slave of the Eighteenth Century by Júnia Ferreira Furtado. I was enlightened by travelogues and old photos found in bookstores and museums in Lisbon and Belém, as well as in the Christopher Columbus Museum in Vila Baleira on Porto Santo. On Madeira, the Madeira Ethnographic Museum in Ribeira Brava and the Madeira Story Centre in Funchal were huge sources of information that helped me understand and visualize life in Funchal and in the island’s villages and quintas in the eighteenth century.
Thank you to my agent, Sarah Heller, for your support and encouragement. Thanks also to Camilla Ferrier and Jemma McDonagh at the Marsh Agency in London for ushering my work into the wider world.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Anne Collins, for her generosity and meticulous attention to detail in gently guiding this story onto the right paths. My appreciation also goes to the book’s copy editor, John Sweet; its brilliant designer, Terri Nimmo; its managing editor, Deirdre Molina; Michelle Roper, whose help chasing images was invaluable; my publicist, Shona Cook; and the rest of the team at Random House Canada, for their many and varied contributions.
As always, a huge thank you to my dear extended family and my understanding friends, for bearing with me during the writing times, tolerating and forgiving my silences and absences.
Special loving thanks to Marty for accompanying me to Portugal and the Madeira Archipelago on my two research trips, and for always encouraging me to go one step further when I think I’ve reached my limit. Your unflagging belief in me and your own inspiring knowledge and wisdom in the world of creation and imagination during our daily “story time” provided endless motivation and moral support over the writing of this book.
And, of course, I thank my children with all my heart. Zalie, Brenna and Kitt, you provide me with unwavering encouragement not only in my writing life but in all aspects of my world, and you continue to amaze and inspire me with your own richly challenging and diverse lives.