The Chesapeake Diaries Home Again

235 Pages·2010·1.6 MB·English

by  Stewart Mariah

A M S
ALSO BY MARIAH STEWART
Coming Home
Acts of Mercy
Cry Mercy
Mercy Street
Last Breath
Last Words
Last Look
Final Truth
Dark Truth
Hard Truth
Cold Truth
Dead End
Dead Even
Dead Certain
Dead Wrong
Forgotten
Until Dark
The President's Daughter

For Blanche

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I've lived all my life in small towns: That's the rhythm I understand best. My (cid:37)rst seven books were a
re(cid:39)ection of the towns I grew up in and later lived in, from Hightstown, NJ, to Marion, MA, to Lansdowne,
PA. I'm happy to be returning to my roots with The Chesapeake Diaries, set in (cid:37)ctional St. Dennis, MD,
which is a composite of all the small towns I've known and loved over the years. Grateful thanks to Loretta
Barrett, Kate Collins, and Linda Marrow for wholeheartedly encouraging and supporting my return to those
feel-good, relationship-oriented, family-centric books I used to write.
Thanks, also, to the wonderful team at Ballantine Books, who have so enthusiastically supported this
e(cid:49)ort, especially Libby McGuire, Kim Hovey, and Scott Shannon. I always hesitate to name names, because I
inevitably forget someone who should be remembered, so while I o(cid:49)er my sincere thanks to everyone at
Random House for all they do, I want to say a special thank-you to the marketing and publicity teams (with
special thanks to Kristin Fassler, Alison Masciovecchio, and Quinne Rogers); the art department's Scott Biel
for the beautiful, eye-catching covers that capture the spirit of this series; everyone in the sales department;
the long-su(cid:49)ering production department, for hanging in there with me; Kelli Fillingim in editorial; and
Andrea "The Decimator" Sheridan (who smites the pirates).
Grateful thanks to the lovely and gracious Grace Sinclair, who I met at the Country Meadows Retirement
Village in Hershey, PA, for loaning her name to the author of the diaries that serve as the Greek Chorus to
these books. Last but, Lord knows, never the least, the hometown girls, especially Cathy Lanning Simmons
and Eileen Griggs McGillan, who make going home such a pleasure, and the Friday Club of Hightstown for
inviting me to visit and for making me feel so welcome (with special thanks to Dale Snyder Grubb).
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