Acknowledgments

MANY THANKS to my agent, Liza Dawson, who with her usual calm weathered my bouts of self-doubt and patiently coaxed me into finding the story I always knew was there.

To my editor, Shaye Areheart, thank you for providing Sister Mine with a loving, devoted, and very enthusiastic home.

A special thanks to my sister, Molly, and her husband, Shawn, for providing me with firsthand insight into the highs and lows of a life in law enforcement.

As always, thank you, Mom, for your constant love, support, and Bloody Marys at the Autoport.

To my children, Tirzah and Connor, who are my greatest works of art. Thank you for being such good kids.

To Bernard, who I could never thank in a few words, for everything he’s done for me as my soul mate, as a fellow artist who understands the life, and as the brilliant translator of my novels into French—so I will thank him for one thing only and that is the confidence his love has given me to follow my instincts and my heart as a woman and a writer.

And finally, I’d like to thank all the coal miners—working, retired, disabled, and unemployed—and all the children and spouses and grandchildren of miners who have contacted me and expressed how much my books have meant to them as honest, heartfelt explanations of what life was like growing up in these communities and being part of the mining culture. Your affirmation means a great deal to me.

Even though I left the mining town where I grew up and lived for many years in the Chicago area, my heart always stayed there. I’ve recently been able to move back to Pennsylvania, and I’ve never been happier.

It’s good to be home.