Page 290 - And the Mountains Echoed (novel)

Acknowledgments

A couple of logistical matters before I give thanks. The village of Shadbagh is
fictional, though it is possible that one by that name exists somewhere in
Afghanistan. If so, I have never been to it. Abdullah and Pari’s nursery rhyme,
specifically the reference to a “sad little fairy,” was inspired by a poem by the
late, great Persian poet Forough Farrokhzad. Finally, the title of this book was
inspired in part by William Blake’s lovely poem, “Nurse’s Song.”
I would like to extend my thanks to Bob Barnett and Deneen Howell for
being such wonderful guides and advocates for this book. Thank you Helen

Heller, David Grossman, Jody Hotchkiss. Thanks to Chandler Crawford, for her
enthusiasm, patience, and advice. Many thanks to a host of friends at Riverhead
Books: Jynne Martin, Kate Stark, Sarah Stein, Leslie Schwartz, Craig D. Burke,
Helen Yentus, and many more I have left unnamed but to whom I am deeply
grateful for helping bring this book to readers.
I thank my wonderful copy editor, Tony Davis, who ventures way beyond the
call of duty.
Very special gratitude goes out to my editor, the hugely talented Sarah
McGrath, for her insight and vision, her gentle guidance, and for helping me
shape this book in more ways than I can recall. I’ve never enjoyed the editing
process more, Sarah.

Lastly, I thank Susan Petersen Kennedy and Geoffrey Kloske, for their trust
and unwavering faith in me and my writing.
Thank you and Tashakor to all my friends and all the people in my family for
always being in my corner, and for patiently, gamely, and kindly putting up with
me. As ever, I thank my beautiful wife, Roya, not only for reading and editing
many incarnations of this book but also for running our day-to-day life, without
a whisper of protest, so I could write. Without you, Roya, this book would have

died somewhere in the first paragraph of page one. I love you.