My Last Innocent Year(76)

Huge thanks to Susan Scarf Merrell for her friendship and expertise and for letting me spread my pages across her kitchen floor—literally and perhaps figuratively. Thanks to the entire BookEnds crew, especially Meg Wolitzer and Jennifer Solheim. Special thanks to Sue Mell and Haley Hach for their astute and thoughtful feedback.

Margaret Riley King believed in this book from the beginning and knew exactly how to make it better. Suzanne Gluck graciously read an early draft and offered wise counsel. Caroline Zancan is a wise editor and a kind friend. I am so grateful this book found its way to her. Thanks to everyone at Holt, especially Amy Einhorn, Chris O’Connell, Sarah Fitts, Vincent Stanley, Kelly Too, and Nicolette Seeback. Special thanks to Lori Kusatzky for her assistance and good cheer.

Thank you to the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College and Kathryn Gurfein for the scholarship that brought Marian Thurm into my life. Marian read much of this book in its earliest stage and encouraged me to keep going. Allison Boyle, Jeannie Suk Gersen, and Erika Meitner offered insight on campus policy surrounding sexual assault. And to the many writers who read parts of this book over the years in workshops and classes, including Stephanie Newman, Dani Shapiro, Julie Buntin, and Rufi Thorpe, I offer thanks as well.

Many, many thanks to Mirna Ibarra for caring for my house and children, so I had the time to write. With eternal gratitude to the Alpert and Florin families and to those I’ve lost along the way, especially Peggy Tagliarino, who told me to write.

I write in memory of my mother, Ellen Alpert, who missed so much but whose spirit is woven into these pages. Mom, I have so much to tell you.

To my children, Sam, Ellie, and Oliver, my sweetest creations. My love for you is forever and always.

And finally to Ken, the beating heart of everything, who believed in me long before I believed in myself. The next one’s for you, my love.





ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DAISY ALPERT FLORIN attended Dartmouth College and received graduate degrees from Columbia University and Bank Street Graduate School of Education. She is a recipient of the 2016 Kathryn Gurfein Writing Fellowship at Sarah Lawrence College and was a 2019–20 fellow in the BookEnds novel revision fellowship, where she worked with founding director Susan Scarf Merrell. A native New Yorker, Daisy lives in Connecticut with her family. You can sign up for email updates here.