The Secret Keeper: A Novel of Kateryn Parr

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Oh, how happy I am to write in the age of the long arm of the Internet, rare-book dealers, and out-of-print books magically reappearing in PDF. I have read parts of dozens, if not hundreds, of these while writing this book and yet one feels that there is always more to be uncovered. I have done my best to be as accurate as possible with the information available, but new information is being found and sifted through every year, so perhaps even more will be discovered about Parr and her household in the years to come.

This book would have been more difficult to write, less accurate, and less period-specific if not for the spectacular talents of Lauren Mackay, historical research assistant. Among other things, she expanded my list of good resources, corrected unlikely speculations and awkward period verbiage, edited the manuscript, helped brainstorm sixteenth-century solutions, and assisted in verifying sources and finding facts. She is an all-around genius.

Thank you, too, to those brilliant and kind author friends who read the book in its earliest stages and offered timely, pointed, and immeasurably helpful advice as well as life-giving encouragement: Liz Curtis Higgs, Debbie Austin, and Ginger Garrett. I truly appreciate Danielle Egan-Miller and Joanna MacKenzie, simply the best and brightest agents in the world; my confidence is bolstered knowing that they are in my corner. Thanks, too, to the team at Howard Books that helps bring these books to life. Sylvia Croft, a humble woman with a gift of prophecy who instructed me and vetted the manuscript, was a God-given resource. Strongest thanks and home-cooked meals are immediately due my wonderful husband and children, who love me through the hand-wringing and late nights each book inevitably brings.