And Molly took Maggie’s pudge-gloved hand and Maggie took Jane’s and Jane took Ruth’s and Ruth took Carrie’s, and the five friends who had been friends nearly all their lives, the five sisters-of-the-heart, stood side by side by side by side by side in mesmeric silence and felt tiny and inconsequential in this tuck-corner of a vast, cold universe.
But they did not feel alone.
Not even for a parasecond.
Acknowledgments
The author wishes to thank the following individuals who read the manuscript in early drafts and offered suggestions that were thoughtful and most helpfuclass="underline"
Mary Elizabeth Dunn, Patrick Gabridge, George Ovitt, Jim Davis, Mary Ellen Holman, Tonya Hays, Michael Keith, Carolyn Valtos, Janet Stephenson, Susan Guinter, Laurie Kalet, and Jonathan Odell.
The author also wishes to thank his literary agent Amy Rennert for her many years of support. He is grateful, as well, to be working again with his favorite editor Guy Intoci and his favorite copy editor Michelle Dotter. A special thank-you goes to Patrick Walsh for his fifteen-year advocacy and friendship — happy proof that an Irishman can also be a mensch.