I AM LUCKY to have attended Harrow School for one year. It was an enriching and transformative time for me; one for which I will be forever grateful. It is unfortunate that Andrew Taylor’s experience at the school, in circumstances similar to mine, was less happy. With some reluctance I felt it necessary to represent accurately Mr. Taylor’s time at Harrow, not my own.
Without the support of my mother, Martha Evans, this book could not have been written. Exceeding my wildest hopes, she offered to be my guide into literary, social, and medical history, and gave me the tireless, cheerful commitment that only my mom can offer; wearing her expertise lightly, and always making it fun.
I am grateful to Dr. Eric Leibert and Dr. Rany Condos of the NYU Langone Medical Center for their generosity, patience, and wit in answering my many questions about TB and its treatment.
My agent, Simon Lipskar, and editor, Sally Kim, worked hard to bring this book to life. An author couldn’t ask for a more gifted, dedicated team.
Debts for other kindnesses: Jonathan Smith, the Witteveen/Quirijns family, Judith Lee, Rob Munk.
Sources for this book include Byron: Child of Passion, Fool of Fame by Benita Eisler; A History of Harrow School by Christopher Tyerman; and accounts of John Keats’s death by his friend Joseph Severn.
My wife and children tolerated much caffeine abuse and many sunny days spent indoors in order for this novel to be written. They saved me, and it, a thousand times. Always to them, my deepest thanks