But on Ana’s fifteenth birthday, Carmen gifted her an antique book. A copy of Les Misérables in Spanish, a first edition. Carmen said that after her own mother died, a niece in Cuba sent the book through a courier for Jeanette. This was months before her daughter’s death. Carmen hadn’t wanted to give the book to Jeanette, because she knew that after her relapse, she might sell it. Carmen said her niece in Cuba had remembered Jeanette loved the book during her last visit to the island, had remembered how she flipped its worn pages.

In the margin of one page, Carmen showed her, was Jeanette’s handwriting below another note in faded script that seemed to spell out the same thing. We are force, the scribble read. And then Jeanette had added her own words, We are more than we think we are.

And though Ana had no idea why Jeanette had written those words, she chose to believe the sentence, the scribble, was a cry across time. Women? Certain women? We are more than we think we are. There was always more. She had no idea what else life would ask of her, force out of her, but right then, there was cake and candles and this, a gift. She thought that she, too, might give away the book someday, though she had no idea to whom. Someone who reminded her of herself maybe. Someone drawn to stories. She said thank you and put the book aside.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you, Megan Lynch, for your unwavering support, for making this book better, for ushering it into the world during the strangest of times with so much grace and vision.

Thank you, PJ Mark and Marya Spence, for being a literal dream team and my style icons. Thank you for being so fierce and dedicated and thoughtful.

Thank you, Michael Taeckens, for your zeal and your kindness and your patience, for bringing so much beautiful energy into the publication of this book.

Thank you, Lauren Bittrich, Amelia Possanza, Katherine Turro, Nancy Trypuc, Nadxieli Nieto, and everyone at Flatiron and Macmillan. Thank you, Natalie Edwards, Ian Bonaparte, and the whole team at Janklow & Nesbit. Thank you, Katy Lasell and Broadside PR.

Thank you, Roxane Gay, for your unwavering belief in this book and my writing throughout so many years. Your mentorship and guidance have shaped me in ways both large and small. I am forever changed.

Thank you, Sharon Solwitz, for your keen eye and unwavering honesty, for always believing the best version of this book was within my grasp.

Thank you, Brian Leung, for sparking my unlikely foray into elements of historical fiction and for seeing my potential.