The Scribe (31 page)

Those wishing to learn more about nineteenth century Atlanta can do no better than the first two volumes of Garrett's magisterial
Atlanta and Environs
(University of Georgia Press, 1954). Principally composed of reprinted contemporary accounts from local newspapers (including the
Constitution
), it shows Atlanta's history unfolding in something very close to real time. It is a compendium all things Atlantan—which is to say, two thousand pages of the wonderful, the strange, the outrageous, the disgraceful, and the delightful.

—M.G., October 8, 2014

Acknowledgments

T
HANKS FIRST, AS EVER,
to Kristen Sulser Guinn, who makes all of it possible, and to our remarkably patient children, Braiden and Phoebe Guinn.

For their friendship and support, I am grateful to Andre Dubus III, Chris Offutt, Michael Farris Smith, Michael Kardos, Jim and Frances Zook, David and Rebekah Moulder, Pam Sultan, Kelly Boutwell, Mechelle Keeton, Charlie Godbold, Park Ellis, Scott Sutton, Dick and Kay Largel, and my parents, Wendell and Jane Guinn.

To my friends Joe Hickman, Jason Shelby, Chris McMillin, Paul Rankin, and Steve Yates, thank you for continuing to be invaluable readers.

My stalwarts of legal and medical expertise, Floyd Sulser, Jr., and Keith Stansell, M.D., have once again aided me with their insights.

For their knowledge of wing shooting, thanks to Jeff Bowling, Jim Carruth, Randy Freeman, and Bill Porch. For medical arcana
shared on a cobalt-blue-sky day of quail hunting outside Meridian, I'm indebted to Ed Carruth, M.D., and Bob May, M.D.

To Johnny Evans and his incomparable Lemuria Books, thanks for being the best friend a writer could have in this business.

Grateful acknowledgment is due to Mary Ann Caws for permission to reprint from her translation of Victor Hugo's
Et nox facta est
and to the Cornell University Press for reuse of the passage from Jeffrey Burton Russell's
Mephistopheles
.

Alane Salierno Mason has once again graced my work with her keen vision, and it has come out the better for it. Thank you, Alane.

Finally, a much belated thank you to my graduate professors at the University of South Carolina, especially David Cowart, Joel Myerson, Keen Butterworth, and the late James Dickey, all of whom taught me, as Mr. Dickey put it, that “Wild hope can always spring / From tended strength.” Everything is in that.

ALSO BY MATTHEW GUINN

The Resurrectionist

The Scribe
Copyright © 2015 by Matthew Guinn

All rights reserved

First Edition

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact W. W. Norton Special Sales at [email protected] or 800-233-4830

Book design by Lovedog Studio

Production manager: Louise Mattarelliano

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Guinn, Matthew.

The scribe : a novel / Matthew Guinn. — First edition.

pages ; cm

ISBN 978-0-393-23929-4 (hardcover)

1. Police—Georgia—Atlanta—Fiction. 2. Serial murder investigation—Fiction. 3. African Americans—Crimes against—Fiction. 4. Atlanta (Ga—History—1865–1898—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3607.U4856S37 2015

813'.6—dc23

2015013780

ISBN 978-0-393-24802-9 (e-book)

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110

www.wwnorton.com

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.

Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT