Whatever semblance of order my words have owes to the lessons I’ve learned from my fellow writers. My thanks to Mary Aceituno, Richard Agemo, Felix Amerasinghe, Tara Campbell, Jeanne Jones, Terri Lewis, Kseniya Melnik, Britt Peterson, Beth Wenger, and Kate Wichmann. Particularly, my undying thanks to Mara Adams, Meredith Crosbie, Suzie Eckl, Rosalyn Eves, Michelle Lerner, Andrea Pawley, Dorothy Reno, Lisa Schultz, and Heather Webb for reading an early draft of this novel.
As much as I like to play a historian on the page, I am not one. I’m so fortunate and grateful that actual historians and experts helped me compensate for my ignorance. Melanie Gifford at the National Gallery of Art provided crucial insight about painting materials, and Frima Fox Hofrichter of the Pratt Institute was this book’s historical fairy godmother and the source of tremendous expertise on Judith and her times. Thanks also to Dr. Chrissy Macken and Dr. Lindsay Kim for their medical expertise.
Finally, I′m thankful to so many in my family. Particularly my father Ronald Callaghan for teaching me to read in the first place, and my mother Elizabeth Barry for encouraging my writing and this novel. My children for pardoning my distraction and even urging me to “work upstairs.” And my husband, Patrick. Without you, there would be nothing.
About the Author
CARRIE CALLAGHAN IS A HISTORICAL fiction author living in Maryland with her spouse, two young children, and two ridiculous cats. Her short stories have been published in literary journals around the country. She loves travel, seasons of all kinds, and tea. And books, books, books.
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