Imaginary Girls(95)

My beloved mom, Arlene Seymour, has so much Ruby magic in her she’s the reason I was able to become a writer at all. And my little sister, Laurel Rose Purdy, was the best gift my mom ever gave me and the inspiration for the heart of this story. Rose: I hope this reminds you every day just how much I love you.

Regional history was altered for the purposes of this novel, but acknowledgment must go to a book of true history, The Last of the Handmade Dams: The Story of the Ashokan Reservoir by Bob Steuding.

And finally, I’m endlessly grateful to my other half and my love, Erik Ryerson, who found a way to take a couple of characters, a crazy premise, and a flimsy plot and help to magically bring it all to life one night in a back booth on Bleecker Street—and then read and edit drafts of these pages so many times I lost count. This novel simply would not exist without him.