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Boundless thanks to my brilliant, thought-provoking editor, Sarah McGrath, whose keen eye never misses. Huge thanks, too, to the entire Riverhead team, and to the Valkyries of Viking, Venetia Butterfield and Mary Mount.

Thank you, Anna Stein, my gorgeous, kick-ass agent, for making my dreams come true, and for choosing me. I am beyond lucky to have Will Watkins at ICM, Susan Armstrong at C&W, Claire Nozieres at Curtis Brown, and Jason Hendler at HJTH on my team.

Mark Sarvas. Mentor and friend for life. You held me steady every step of the way. Words will never be enough, but I won’t stop trying. Thank you, Adam Cushman, for believing in this book before I even knew it was a book. Jack Grapes, for teaching me that fiction is poetry. Thank you to all the writers in the Novel Writers Group who workshopped The Paper Palace with me. Among them, Andrea Custer, Samuel Stackhouse, Ondrea Harr, Victoria Pynchon, Catherine Ellsworth, and Joel Villase?or, wordsmith extraordinaire, who caught the Metrecal. My compadres at PEN America. My fellow board members at the Fine Arts Work Center.

Stepha, for anything and everything. Faran, for the trees. Estelle, for her wisdom and heart. Jimmy, for bringing the light. Tanya, for keeping it lit. Nick, for the joy you brought me from Day One. Christina and Olivia, for keeping my world spinning on its axis. Lily and Nell, for making sure it can still spin out of control. August, whose fine, strong drumbeat we all hope to follow. Lasher, Calder, and Sebastian— tiny scrumptious beings. And Georgia, oh Georgia, my woodland sprite, for inspiring the dreaminess.

I was raised in a world of strong women with strong voices and constant hearts. I thank each and every one of you for your remarkable friendship. It has been the greatest blessing. Thank you, Margot, Angela, Laura, Nonny, Tory, Busby—my Girls for life; Charlotte, who read it first and said “yes”; Nina, who sat beside me day after day, both of us typing away; Kate, for your boundless optimism; Nicky and Louise for your sweet support; Laura B., Evgenia, and Elizabeth—whip-smart friends and early readers; Libby, who made me get off my bum and finish the damn thing; Zoe and Lucy, for your sisterhood; the magnificent women in my family—Antonia, Susannah, Hayden, Saskia, Cosima, Rachel, Nicky, Frankie, Lula, Lotte, Grace, Louisa, Millie. Each of you shapes the path.

My sons, Lukas and Felix—I love you to the moon. But you know that.

Lastly, and above all, thank you, Bruno, for the roads we walked together, and for the amazing journey.





About the Author


Miranda Cowley Heller has worked as senior vice president and head of drama series at HBO, developing and overseeing such shows as The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire, Deadwood, and Big Love, among others. This is her first novel. She grew up spending summers on Cape Cod, and now lives in California.