The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid - 64

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It is a testament to the grace, faith, and aplomb of my editor, Sarah Cantin, that when I told her I wanted to do something completely different that hinged on the reader believing a woman had been married seven times, she said, “Go for it.” Within the safety of that trust, I felt free to create Evelyn Hugo. Sarah, it is with my most sincere thanks that I acknowledge how lucky I am to have you as my editor.

Big, big thanks must also go to Carly Watters for all that she has done for my career. I feel fortunate to continue working with you on so many books together.

To my incomparable rep team: You all are so good at your jobs and seem to do them with such passion that I feel as if I’m armed at all sides. Theresa Park, thank you for coming aboard and hitting the ground running with a strength and elegance that is truly unmatched. With you at the helm, I feel incredibly confident I can reach new heights. Brad Mendelsohn, thank you for running the show with such a strong belief in me and for dealing with the intricate details of my neurosis with such warmth. Sylvie Rabineau and Jill Gillett, your intelligence and skill are perhaps only outshone by your compassion.

To Ashley Kruythoff, Krista Shipp, Abigail Koons, Andrea Mai, Emily Sweet, Alex Greene, Blair Wilson, Vanessa Martinez, and everyone else at WME, Circle of Confusion, and Park Literary & Media, I am honestly overwhelmed at how seamlessly you all consistently deliver excellence. Special thanks for Vanessa para el español . Me salvaste la vida.

To Judith, Peter, Tory, Hillary, Albert, and everyone else at Atria who works to help my books make their way in the world, I thank you deeply.

To Crystal, Janay, Robert, and the rest of the BookSparks team, you are unstoppable, brilliant publicity machines and wonderful humans. One thousand prayer hands emojis to you and all that you do.

To all the friends who have shown up time and time again, to hear me read, to buy my books, to recommend my work to other people, and to surreptitiously put my books at the front of the store, I am forever grateful. To Kate, Courtney, Julia, and Monique, thank you for helping me write about people different from myself. It is a tall order that I take on humbly and it helps so much to have you by my side.

To the book bloggers who write and tweet and snap photos all in the effort of telling people about my work, you are the reason I can continue to do what I do. And I have to give it up to Natasha Minoso and Vilma Gonzalez for just straight killin’ it.

To the Reid and Hanes families, thank you for supporting me, for cheering the loudest, and for always being there when I need you.

To my mother, Mindy, thank you for being proud of this book and always so eager to read anything I write.

To my brother, Jake, thank you for seeing me the way I want to be seen, for understanding what I’m trying to do at such a deep level, and for keeping me sane.

To the one and only Alex Jenkins Reid: Thank you for understanding why this book was so important to me and for being so into it . But more important, thank you for being the kind of man who encourages me to shout louder, dream bigger, and take less shit. Thank you for never making me feel as if I should make myself smaller to make anyone else feel better. It brings me an absolutely unparalleled amount of pride and joy to know that our daughter is growing up with a father who will stick by her side no matter who she is, who will show her how she should expect to be treated by modeling it for her. Evelyn did not have that. I did not have that. But she will. Because of you.

And lastly, to my baby girl. You were teeny teeny tiny—I believe the size of half the period on the end of this sentence—when I started writing this book. And when I finished it, you were mere days away from making your entrance. You were with me every step of the way. I suspect it was, in no small part, you who gave me the strength to write it.

I promise that I will repay the favor by loving you unconditionally and accepting you always, so that you feel strong enough and safe enough to do anything you set your mind to. Evelyn would want that for you. She would say, “Lilah, go out there, be kind, and grab what you want out of this world with both hands.” Well, she might not have put as big an emphasis on being kind. But as your mother, I must insist.