Writing this book was such a joy, and I’m so grateful to a number of people who made this experience possible.
To my dream editor, Emily Settle, thank you for always inspiring me and for having so many brilliant ideas. I wanted to write about Crown Prince Sado for the longest time, but never knew how to approach this historical event until you thought of the Palace Nurse x Royal Inspector pairing. So I owe the existence of this book in part to you.
To my champion (and agent), Amy Elizabeth Bishop, I’m so grateful that I can always turn to you. This publishing journey is no longer so intimidating with you as my agent, and I’m where I am today because of your guidance and encouragement.
Many thanks to my publishing team at Feiwel & Friends, including my fantastic publicist, Brittany Pearlman; my copyeditor, Ana Deboo; cover artist, Sunga Park; managing editor Dawn Ryan and production editor Kathy Wielgosz; my designer, Liz Dresner; and production manager, Celeste Cass.
To the early supporters and readers of this book, Kristin Dwyer, Erin Kim, Axie Oh, Eunice Kim, Cristina Lee, and my sister, Sharon, thank you for reading and boosting my confidence in this book! I also want to thank Kess Costales, my Queen of Romance, for all your wonderful suggestions (I credit the last line of chapter 18 to you), as well as Sarah Rana, for restraining me from deleting too many scenes (the “one table trope” scene is dedicated to you).
My eternal gratitude to all the librarians, booksellers, reviewers, and readers who have supported my works. Your enthusiasm allows me to keep on doing what I love: exploring Korean history through fiction. I’d also like to thank my longtime friends, Janice and Phil; I’ll always and forever be grateful for your support of my dream since Day One.
To Mom and Dad, thank you for believing in me and for always cheering me on; your continued support means so much to me. I also want to thank my in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Tung, for babysitting so I could carve out writing time for me; I would have struggled to meet my deadlines without your help.
A special thank-you to my husband, Bosco; you’re my go-to brainstorm partner, and I so appreciate how kind and considerate you are, no matter how prickly I can be, especially when I’m on deadline. You’re the best.
I’m grateful for the many resources that made it possible to write this book, especially JaHyun Kim Haboush’s translation of The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong, Anders Karlsson’s “Law and the Body in Joseon Korea: Statecraft and the Negotiation of Ideology,” Bak Yeong-Kyu’s 에로틱 조선: 우리가 몰랐던 조선인들의 성 이야기 and 조선관청기행, The Institute of Seoul Studies’ 한양의 탄생: 의정부에서 도화서까지 관청으로 읽는 오백년 조선사, Han Hui-Suk’s 의녀(키워드 한국문화 11), 팔방미인 조선 여의사, and Vincenza D’Urso’s “Origin and Development of the Female Medical Practitioners’ (ŭinyŏ) System During the Chosŏn Dynasty (1392–1910).”
And lastly: I thank Jesus, my lord and savior, for being my anchor.