I WOULD LIKE to thank the friends who read the manuscript of Liebestod in various stages: Gene Goodheart, Joe Kanon, Bernard Katz, David Kleinbard, Harry Thomas, and Jim Thomson.

Thank you, too, Iveta Nechvátalová in far-off Jihlava for your many favors.

Stephen Lefkowitz once told me about some faux cousins; that led to things.

I owe Jenny Schlossberg a great deal for her industry, dedication, and unwavering devotion to the hero of this book. Leib Conquers All was her title—and with her help he did.

Hurrah for Hadassah Felderbaum (who knows who she is), and much love for demanding that I ignore the advice of all those listed above and forcing me to remember that whatever imagination I am blessed or cursed with cannot be tamed.

Thank you, Saskya Jain, for your help with the German language and for advising me to stay away from italics.

Thanks to Laura Gross, my agent, who, luckily enough for both of us, has a stalwart heart.

Gratitude, admiration, and a bit of awe for Dave Cole, who climbed the jagged peak of copyediting this impossibly difficult book and waved the flag of victory at the top.

And all hail Robert Weil, once again, and happily, my editor.