Thank you to my agent, Pete Knapp, for continuing to be a fierce advocate of my work.

Thank you also to Stuti Telidevara and Danielle Barthel for helping me keep my ducks in a row.

I’m lucky to have had a number of perceptive readers whose feedback helped me write the best version of this story. Thank you to Clare Fielder, my first reader: There is no workshop I love more than a Clare/Julia workshop. My thanks to Kirsten Johnson and Nina Cochran, whose valuable feedback on a different project helped lead me to Lovesick Falls. Amy Feltman has read countless drafts of mine and can always be relied on not only for useful feedback but also for much-needed emotional support: Thank you, Amy, for your friendship. Thank you to Janice Whang and Dan Grossman, who read this book at the eleventh hour, offered brilliant critique, and helped me see the story in new, fresh ways. Thanks to Nate Randall, proofreader extraordinaire, who also offered excellent last-minute thoughts on the manuscript.

I am beyond grateful to the lovely ladies of Power Jam, writing group edition: Mikaela Dunitz, Kailyn McCord, and AJ Strosahl. This book would not, could not, have been written without your enthusiasm for Celia’s story and your unflagging belief in my ability to tell it. I thank my lucky stars I landed among you (and am still flattered you adopted Power Jam for personal use). Thank you for community and camaraderie. When are we meeting next?

I am lucky to have friends near and far who asked me how the writing was going, or who knew better than to ask. Thank you for being there for me: Tucker Costello, Chaim Levin, Katherine Tandler, Jane Tandler, Libby Kaufer, Alex Iozzo, Nigel Clair, Megan Mulone, Andrew Lloyd, Stina Rosenquist, Jonathan Draxton, Lauren Finkelstein, Annie Liontas, Sara Nordstrom, BJ Love, Erika Jo Brown, and Claire Lombardo. Thank you to the majestic CLAW for your wisdom and warmth over the years, and for giving me a landing pad in Philadelphia.

Thank you to the many booksellers and librarians who put this book, as well as my first, into the hands of readers. I so appreciate the work that you do (and I hope to visit as many of you as possible!).

Thank you to my students over the years, for your insight, for always surprising me, and for reminding me why I write.

Many thanks to the Mittelstead family for your continued generosity and excitement over my writing: Thank you, Jay, Martha, Quin, and Nell. Thank you to my aunt, Anne Sapp, for your unmatched enthusiasm and the free PR, and my cousins Walker Sapp and Mason Sapp for always making me laugh over text.