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No book writes itself, and no author can exist in a vacuum. The incentive for The Assistant came from an innocent question on a Jane Austen Fan Fiction board a couple of years ago, when somebody asked if there were any stories about Lizzy Bennet’s favourite aunt and uncle. I forget who asked the question, but I owe her my deepest gratitude for sparking my imagination. As the story began to take shape, my thoughts and ideas were guided by my friends and family, who listened with glazed eyes as I rambled on about some minor detail or another, and by the wonderful readers on one of the Austenesque fan fiction sites, who offered their thoughts and suggestions along the way.
There are so many people to thank, I’m afraid to start listing names for fear of forgetting somebody. But I have to mention a few. Thanks to fellow authors Robin Helm and Laura Hile for their tremendous encouragement and support. Thanks to the amazing and talented Sophia Meredith, always my personal cheerleading section, without whom I would never have started down this amazing road. Thanks to Donna Kraus, invaluable sounding board and beta reader, whose comments make me think and have made me a better writer. And huge thanks to Mikael Swayze, with his encyclopedic knowledge of all things British and historical and his eagle eye for mistakes and glitches. Any and all remaining mistakes are mine alone.
Thanks also to Mae Phillips for her beautiful cover art.
The cover image is a watercolour, View of the Naval Yard, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1796, by George Tobin, 1768-1838. Thanks to the Library and Archives Canada (Peter Winkworth Collection of Canadiana at the National Archives of Canada) for the use of the painting.