Here's to Us

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I want to start by thanking the two people to whom this novel is dedicated. Anne and Whitney Gifford have been friends since I moved to Nantucket. Not only did they hunt for a baby swing for my son Maxx (now sixteen) in the middle of a fondue party, but they also allowed me to use their second home as my own personal writing studio through five chilly winters. In the red library on Barnabas, I wrote A Summer Affair, The Castaways, The Island, Silver Girl, and Summerland. More recently, Anne and Whitney were instrumental in helping me purchase my new house. They are as close to me as family, and I treasure our friendship and value their unconditional love.

Joe Gamberoni taught me everything I needed to know about hunting on Nantucket. Let the record show that (unlike Angie) I was not strong enough to draw back the string of a bow (it’s a lot harder than it looks). Joe’s knowledge of hunting and deer is comprehensive, and he patiently answered all my questions.

Thank you to Mark Goldweitz for “lending” his boat, the Lena Marie, to my characters so they could spread Deacon’s ashes in style.

Michael May, executive director of the Nantucket Preservation Trust, was a hero at the last minute and sent me Betsy Tyler’s comprehensive and elegant house history of 141 Main Street, allowing me to write what is my favorite scene in this book.

Reagan Arthur did it again. She is, quite simply, the most talented editor in the business. She is the true superstar here, consistently making the magic happen by encouraging my best writing and teasing out the most engaging storyline. Every Elin Hilderbrand fan should also be a Reagan Arthur fan.

I am the luckiest novelist in America to have Michael Carlisle and David Forrer of Inkwell Management as my agents-and even luckier to have them as my friends.

Anyone who has ever read any of my novels can probably tell that Nantucket is a special place. Nothing makes it so more than the people who live there. Thank you to all of my friends, my children’s friends, and my friends’ children. I can’t possibly name everyone who touches my life and makes the island home for me, but this year, I’ll say Here’s to you: Rebecca Bartlett; Wendy Rouillard; Wendy Hudson; Debbie Briggs; Beau and Elizabeth Almodobar; Heidi Holdgate; Shelly Weedon; Matthew and Evelyn MacEachern; Marty and Holly McGowan; Mark and Gwenn Snider and everyone on staff at the Nantucket Hotel; Angus and Melissa MacVicar; Mark and Eithne Yelle; Helaina Jones; Kevin, Sheila, Liam, and Paddy Carroll; Jeff, Liza, Kai, and Dylan Ottani (Pura Vida!); Manda Riggs; David Rattner and Andrew Law; Norm and Jen Frazee; Jen and Steve Laredo; Martha and John Sargent; Jessica Hicks; the incomparable Erin Frawley; and last but not in any way least: Chuck and Margie Marino.

Thank you to my sister, Heather Osteen Thorpe, for everything, always.

Finally, thank you to three of the coolest human beings I know-whom, it so happens, I have also had the privilege to raise: Maxwell, Dawson, and Shelby. I love you more than I love breathing.