In Borso del Grappa I was fortunate enough to interview Domenico Salvalaggio, an Italian survivor of Buchenwald. His recollection of his imprisonment, and his grace and fortitude in describing such difficult memories, were profoundly important to my understanding of the suffering he and others endured. I am sincerely grateful to him, and to Professor Zuglio Gigliotti, who facilitated our meeting.

In Venice, Dr. Chiara Ponchia generously shared with me her unsurpassed knowledge of the Jewish ghetto and its people; she then spent many hours reading and commenting on this novel in manuscript form. I am deeply grateful for her wisdom and guidance.

Edward Trapunski and Dill Werner Brice were both gracious enough to offer their informed and expert opinions on my depiction of Jewish life in Italy in the 1940s, and I thank them sincerely for their patience and understanding.

I would also like to thank Dr. Madison Lyon and Dr. Aaron Orkin for patiently answering my questions relating to medicine; Dr. Julie Downer for checking my description of veterinary emergency medicine; and Natalie and Sean Macdonald for their assistance with German terms and phrases.

In the course of researching Our Darkest Night, I relied upon the collections of a number of libraries, archives, and museums. I would particularly like to acknowledge the Associazione Nazionale Ex Deportati Nei Campi Nazisti (ANED), the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the Bodleian Library, the Bolzano Municipal Archives, the archives of KZ-Gedankstätte Flossenbürg, the Museo Ebraico di Venezia, the Toronto Reference Library, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the World Holocaust Remembrance Center at Vad Vashem.

Once more I am indebted to my editor, Tessa Woodward, for her understanding, sensitivity, patience, and encouragement. This book would never have been finished—or indeed begun—without her.

I also wish to thank my literary agent, Kevan Lyon, for her wise counsel and warm friendship, as well as her colleagues at the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, among them Patricia Nelson, for their support.

I am so grateful to Jessica Lyons and Dave Knox, my publicists at HarperCollins, along with my personal publicist, Kathleen Carter, for their untiring efforts on my behalf.

My thanks as well to the wonderful people at William Morrow, in particular Robin Barletta, Carolyn Bodkin, Jennifer Hart, Martin Karlow, Elle Keck, Mumtaz Mustafa, Carla Parker, Shelby Peak, Mary Ann Petyak, Elizabeth Semrai, Alison Smith, Liate Stehlik, Diahann Sturge, and Amelia Wood. The producers at HarperAudio have once again created a beautiful audiobook. I’m also grateful to the HarperCollins sales team in the U.S., Canada, and the international division, as well as everyone at HarperCollins Canada who supports me so ably.