So many people have, directly and indirectly, had a part in shaping this book. I am extremely grateful to: Miriam Robinson for constant close reading and invaluable discussions; Francis Spufford for creative and practical advice throughout; Lindsay Clarke for long-standing counsel and comments on a late draft; Teresa Thornhill and Sue Goss for decades of conversation and writing camaraderie; Mandy Hetherton and Oliver Shamlou for generous and perceptive reading; Kelly Morter and her friends for being teen consultants; Nick Manning for comic inspiration and insight into Dupont Circle, Fallingwater, and life in general; Ron and Christopher Hopson for their knowledge of Washington and environs; Mimi Babe Harris for the history of her table; Dr. Bradley George of Atlanta, Georgia, for medical advice; and to the numerous friends, colleagues, students, and my London book group, who provided encouragement and dialogue along the way.

I am grateful to the Neufer and Raney families for a lifetime of summers at the lake, a place that has worked its way into my imagination more deeply than I knew.

Finally, special thanks to my husband, Greg Morter, for his original views and unending support, and to my daughter, Kelly, without whom this book would never have been written.

Reading Group Guide

A Scribner Reading Group Guide

All the Water in the World

Karen Raney