Muse (40 page)

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to all the authors who have enriched the legends of Petrarch and Laura and of the fourteenth-century period known as the Babylonian captivity, when the popes resided in Avignon instead of Rome. I was greatly inspired by visits to the historic centre of Avignon, a UNESCO world heritage site. Most of all, I owe a debt to Francesco Petrarch, who wrote remarkable poems about Laura, as well as a few about the mysterious woman who was the mother of his two children. In creating Solange, I found poetic licence in Petrarch’s advice to his friend, Philippe de Cabassoles, the bishop of Vaucluse: “If true facts are lacking, add imaginary ones. Invention in the service of truth is not lying.”

As well as reading medieval authors such as Petrarch, Dante, Boccaccio, and Chaucer, I consulted a variety of historians and biographers, and made use of Jacobus de Voragine’s
The Golden Legend
in the translation by Ryan and Ripperger. I thank
The New Quarterly
for first publishing Gherardo’s letter from Montrieux-le-Jeune and acknowledge, with great appreciation, grants from the Canada Council and the British Columbia Arts Council, and a research grant from the Access
Copyright Foundation. I am very grateful for the ongoing support of my agents Dean Cooke of The Cooke Agency, and Suzanne Brandreth and Ron Eckel of The Cooke Agency International. Special thanks to Kristin Cochrane, Lynn Henry, and the expert team at Doubleday Canada and, above all, to my dedicated editor, Nita Pronovost, whose belief in
Muse
has never faltered.

Many people have supported me in the writing of
Muse
over the years. I thank them sincerely for their generous comments, especially my writing group June Hutton and Jen Sookfong Lee, fellow writer Paul Headrick, and friends Lynne Neufeld and Mary-Ann Stouck. Keir Novik, Karen Novik, Tom Emerson, and Bonnie Lumley boosted me up and cheered me on, and Alexi and Tilly have been a boundless source of joy and inspiration. I would also like to thank the North Shore librarians, my network of supportive friends and relatives, and the lively coterie of fiction writers who make it a pleasure to live and write in Vancouver. Above all, my love and appreciation go to my husband Orest, for his unwavering encouragement and constant faith in me.