Uprooted

Acknowledgments

I know this may puzzle many a reader: it’s pronounced ag-NYESH-kah. The name comes from a fairy tale that I demanded from my mother endlessly as a child called Agnieszka Skrawek Neiba (Agnieszka “Piece of the Sky”), the version by the wonderful Natalia Gałczyńska. The heroine and her wandering yellow cow make a small cameo appearance here, and the roots of the Wood are planted in the wild, overgrown las of that story.

This book owes an enormous debt to Francesca Coppa and Sally McGrath, who beta-read and cheered me on throughout the entire writing process on a near-daily basis. Many thanks as well to Seah Levy and Gina Paterson and Lynn Loschin for early reading and advice.

Thank you to my wonderful editor, Anne Groell, and my agent, Cynthia Manson, who encouraged and embraced this book from its very beginnings, and to everyone at Del Rey for their help and enthusiasm.

And most of all so many thanks and so much love to my husband, Charles Ardai, who makes my life and my work better and more true. Not every author is lucky enough to have a fellow writer and brilliant editor in-house for her first reader, and I am so glad that I am!

From my mother, and for my daughter: from root to flower. Evidence, when you are old enough to read this book, I hope it can be a connection for you back to your Babcia and the stories she gave me. I love you so very much.