Leaving Time(134)

Thanks to Anika Ebrahim, my South African publicist at the time, who didn’t bat an eye when I told her I needed an elephant expert. Thanks to Jeanetta Selier, senior scientist at the Applied Biodiversity Research Division at the South African National Biodiversity Institute, for being that storehouse of wild elephant knowledge, for personally introducing me to the herds in the Tuli Block of Botswana, and for vetting the accuracy of this book. I am grateful to Meredith Ogilvie-Thompson of Tusk for introducing me to Joyce Poole, who is as close as you can get to a rock star in the world of elephant research and conservation. Being able to speak firsthand to someone who has written some of the most seminal literature on elephant behavior is still mind-blowing to me.

I need to thank Abigail Baird, associate professor of psychology at Vassar College, for being my “research bitch,” for explaining cognition and memory and academic articles to me in a way that I could understand them, and for rocking a black fleece in 110-degree weather like no one else: There is no one with whom I’d rather piece together an elephant skeleton. Also part of the Botswana Brigade: my daughter, Samantha van Leer, the “bitchlet”—thanks for taking orders, for documenting the research with more than a thousand photographs, for naming her furry blue steering wheel cover Bruce, and for always having exactly what I needed hidden somewhere in her voluminous pants. In the wild, an elephant mother and daughter stay in close proximity their whole lives; I hope I am that lucky.

This book marks the beginning of a new home for me at Ballantine Books/Random House. I am so honored to be part of this incredible crew, who have been working behind the scenes for a year with explosive excitement about this novel. Thanks to Gina Centrello, Libby McGuire, Kim Hovey, Debbie Aroff, Sanyu Dillon, Rachel Kind, Denise Cronin, Scott Shannon, Matthew Schwartz, Joey McGarvey, Abbey Cory, Theresa Zoro, Paolo Pepe, and the dozens of other foot soldiers in their invincible army. Your enthusiasm and your creativity blow me away every single day; not all authors are this lucky. Thanks to the dream team of PR: Camille McDuffie, Kathleen Zrelak, and Susan Corcoran: Best. Cheerleaders. Ever.

Working with a new editor is a little like an old-world Orthodox wedding: You trust people to pick your partner, but until you lift that veil, you don’t really know what you’re getting. Well, Jennifer Hershey is—by those standards—a stunner of an editor. Her insight, her grace, and her intelligence shine through every comment and suggestion. I think Jen’s heart bleeds as much across every page of this novel as mine does.

To Laura Gross—what can I say, except that my life would not be what it is without your support and your tenacity. I adore you.

To Jane Picoult, my mother—who was my first reader forty years ago and is still my first reader today. It’s because of the relationship and love between us that I could write Jenna in the first place.

Finally, to the rest of my family—Kyle, Jake, Sammy (again), and Tim—this is a book about keeping the people we love close to us; you guys are the reason I know why that’s the most important thing on earth.