Acknowledgments

The inspiration for this book was a beautiful, antique timepiece, known as an anniversary clock, which my husband, Phillip, gave me for our first wedding anniversary. I was intrigued by the history of this unique type of clock and as I began to research it, I imagined the lives it had touched over the past century and The Things We Cherished began to unfold.

Of course any writer will tell you that the road from inspiration to finished book is long and I am grateful to the many people who have taken this journey with me. I’m indebted to my incredible agent, Scott Hoffman, and his team at Folio Literary and Film Management, and my gifted editors, Phyllis Grann and Jackeline Montalvo, and their team at Doubleday, for sharing my vision for this book and bringing it to life. I’d also like to recognize my UK editor, Rebecca Saunders, and her team at Sphere for their excellent work.

The Things We Cherished enabled me to return to the familiar and beloved terrain of Jewish life in Europe and I’m so grateful to the many people and places that have inspired and influenced my work. While the events and some of the places in the book are fictional, I have learned a great deal from certain historical works, including: The Pity of It All: A Portrait of the German-Jewish Epoch 1743–1933 by Amos Elon and A Community Under Siege: The Jews of Breslau Under Nazism by Abraham Ascher. As usual, the mistakes are all mine.

Just to make it interesting, I wrote this book during the same period of time in which I was pregnant with and gave birth to my twin daughters, Charlotte and Elizabeth. Finishing the book while caring for three children under the age of two (including my wonderful son, Ben) was no easy feat and I owe deep thanks to an army of family and friends: my husband, Phillip, who is the most hands-on father I’ve ever seen or heard of; my parents, Gene and Marsha, who have stopped their lives to help care for my kids; my brother, Jay; my in-laws, Ann and Wayne; plus Joanne and Sarah and others too many to name. Without you, none of this would be possible or worthwhile.