The Truth About Delilah Blue (31 page)
Much appreciation goes out to people I could not have done without. Camilla Fox, wildlife consultant and director of Project Coyote, for educating me about coyote behavior and the predicament of urban wildlife. Jytte Lokvig for Alzheimer’s accuracy. Viola Spolin for creating a hillside home I loved enough to wrap a story around. Carol and Aretha Sills for preserving and sharing it. Harold Cohen for legal clarification. Dr. Gary Shapero and Dr. Jeffrey Werger for medical accuracy and Kerry Lewis for teaching me to love L.A. from beneath the Hollywood sign at midnight—I am happy to have lived through it. Jessica Keener, Ricki Miller, Patry Francis, John Lindsay, Jennifer Kolari, and Danielle Younge-Ullman for early reads. Dr. Karen Sharf for Alzheimer’s information and Lachlan Mackinnon Bleackley for vintage car details and raising me in the back of a
240Z in the first place. Patricia Gill for launching my love of art. The fabulous folks at Hidden Valley for putting up with the obsessive writer over in Bernie’s old place. The gem of a book
The Undressed Art
by Peter Steinhart for insights into the psychology of drawing and nude modeling. Hope Ryden’s
God’s Dog
, Marc Bekoff’s
The Emotional Lives of Animals
for coyote habits.
At HarperPerennial, words cannot do justice to my brilliant editor, Jeanette Perez. Jeanette, you have the wisdom and insight of ten editors, plus two. Carrie Kania, my publisher, who offers the kind of in-house enthusiasm and support every writer dreams of. Amy Vreeland and Nancy Tan for the most thorough copyedits.
At HarperCollins Canada, Iris Tupholme for continuing to publish my books. Jennifer Lambert for her most excellent editorial eye. Leo MacDonald for dazzling marketing and being the man I can always count on bumping into in New York. Alex Schulz for stepping in with enthusiasm and a fabulous British accent. Melissa Zilberberg for tireless publicity.
At Goldberg McDuffie, my publicist, the elegant and persistent Grace McQuade. At United Talent Agency, my film agent, Kassie Evashevski, and her assistant Dana Borowitz. At Writers House, the literary agent with the mostest, Daniel Lazar, who has stayed on this roller coaster without screaming to get off or throwing up even once. Seriously, you are THE best agent a writer could wish for. His witty assistant, Stephen Barr, who sometimes sends me money. Also at Writers House, Maja Nikolic and Angharad Kowal.
As always, my most patient family, who put up with my craziness and absolute lack of domestic skill: Steve, Max, and Lucas.
“A beautifully written, finely wrought, race-to-the-end novel about finding your family, finding a life, and finding yourself. Tish Cohen is the next great thing in women’s fiction.”
—Allison Winn Scotch,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The One That I Want
and
Time of My Life
“Tish Cohen knows how to slide us into a story, letting us imagine we might know the pathway. But we are wrong because she is a wonderful story teller and will surprise us at every turn. She has created a cast of characters who are filled with delicious human frailty and love. If you think you know anything about parental love and misguided choices, think again. Cohen peels away the layers of families and human desires and leaves us with a world of hope.”
—Jacqueline Sheehan,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Lost & Found
and
Now & Then
“What is more wrenching for a girl than being separated from her mother? In this engrossing novel, estranged parents navigate narrow lines of legitimacy in the aftermath of an awful twelve-year family separation. It is impossible to turn away from these damaged yet engaging characters as they struggle to either erase or face the past. Cohen, who writes with clarity, wit, and warmth, is brilliant in her penetration of the family layers, presenting all sides of the drama by allowing each character to be the star of their own show. This is a book that won’t be set aside until the last page is turned.”
—Randy Susan Meyers, author of
The Murderer’s Daughters
Town House
Inside Out Girl
The Truth About Delilah Blue
Copyright © 2010 by Tish Cohen.
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EPub Edition © JUNE 2010 ISBN: 978-1-443-40032-9
Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
First Canadian edition
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Cohen, Tish, 1963–
The truth about Delilah Blue / Tish Cohen.
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8605.03787T78 2010 JC813’.6
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2010-900518-X
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