If you write any type of historical novel, I think you do so partly because you enjoy immersing yourself in the research. The “lost generation” of Paris in the 1920s is a particularly rich historical period, and there are a number of source materials that helped shape this book, including: The Circus Book, 1870s–1950s by Linda Granfield, Dominique Jando, and Fred Dahlinger; A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway; When Paris Sizzled: The 1920s Paris of Hemingway, Chanel, Cocteau, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and Their Friends by Mary McAuliffe; The Golden Moments of Paris: A Guide to the Paris of the 1920s by John Baxter; The Found Meals of the Lost Generation: Recipes and Anecdotes from 1920s Paris by Suzanne Rodriguez-Hunter; Man Ray’s Montparnasse by Herbert R. Lottman; Do Paris Like Hemingway by Lena Strand; Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation: A History of Literary Paris in the Twenties and Thirties by Noel Riley Fitch; Man Ray: American Artist by Neil Baldwin; Self Portrait by Man Ray; Kiki’s Paris: Artists and Lovers 1900–1930 by Billy Kluver and Julie Martin; and Kiki de Montparnasse by Catel Muller and Jose-Luis Bocquet. This book also owes so much to the HBO show Carnivàle (2003–2005) and the films Trapeze (1956) and The Last Romantic Lover (1978).

And finally, I want to thank Mark for believing in me, even when I often don’t believe in myself. You’ve made me a better person, but sadly, not a better French speaker. (Le distributeur de billets est cassè!)

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