The Weird Sisters (44 page)

Inside, our mother, healed and happy, would be turning the kitchen into a hearth, warm and sweet with the scent of dinner, bringing us the promise of her presence, this year and always.

Inside, our father would be rereading the Christmas speech from
Hamlet,
preparing for the toast he would give over dinner.

Some say that ever ’gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long:
And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow’d and so gracious is the time.

Inside, the tree, surrounded with presents, the people we love. Inside, our beds, our memories, our history, our fates, our destinies. Inside, we three. The Weird Sisters. Hand in hand.

EXEUNT.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Enormous thanks . . .

To Amy Einhorn (the BEE, and my BFF), for taking on
The Weird Sisters,
and for the jaw-dropping insights and thought-provoking questions that turned a manuscript into a novel. To Halli Melnitsky, for answering every question I could think up and making me laugh in the process.

To Ivan Held, Leigh Butler, Lance Fitzgerald, Marilyn Ducksworth, Mih-Ho Cha, Michelle Malonzo, Kate Stark, Lydia Hirt, Chris Nelson, and the rest of the incredible staff at Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam. Your boundless encouragement and expertise have been invaluable.

To Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein, a tenacious agent, an elegant, funny, and bright woman, a calm and patient presence in the midst of the hurricane—and one heck of an NYC tour guide. I am forever grateful that you said yes. To Rebecca Strauss, Alecia Douglas, and the team at McIntosh & Otis, for your enthusiastic support.

To my early readers: Dyani Galligan, Rebecca Kuhn, Lauren Wilde, Lily McGinley, Jennifer Eckstein Coon, Denice Turner, and Francesca H. Redshaw. Thank you for believing in me.

To the cancer survivors, oncology specialists, and OB/GYNs who took the time to answer my questions: Darlene McGinley, Susan Westgate, Linda Ross, Cara Leuchtenberger, and Nana Tchabo. Your input was absolutely invaluable. Any remaining errors are completely my own.

To my parents, Bill and Cathy Brown, for making me a reader. It’s a gift I can never thank you enough for.

To the teachers who taught and encouraged me to write: Terri Rubin, Ann Scott, Cheryl Wanko, and Steve Almond. And in loving memory of James Andreas, John Kelly, and Don Belton, three professors whose passion and humor inspired me and countless others. We miss you and are blessed to have known you.

To the friends not mentioned elsewhere who have supported me and my writing without fail: Michele Delaney, Amanda Holender, Amy and Rob Schoen, Lissette Diez, Tammy Doll, Alan Newton, Nicole Gellar, Jennifer Chaffin, Wayne Alan Brenner, Holly Fults, Jonathan Segura, Marcela Valdes, and Hanne Blank. I am lucky to have all of you in my life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eleanor Brown is the youngest of three sisters. She lives in Colorado with her partner, the writer J. C. Hutchins. You can find her online at
www.eleanor-brown.com
.