by James Scott
All of my teachers, but especially Daniel Wallace, Jim Shepard, Pamela Painter, Christine Schutt, Joy Williams, Mako Yoshikawa, Rick Reiken, Ben Brooks, Don Mitchell, David Bain, Jay Parini, John Casey, and Thomas Mallon.
Ladette Randolph, Stacey Swann, Chris Boucher, David Madden, and all of the literary magazine editors who were kind enough to work on my stories.
The Corporation of Yaddo, which provided me with inspiration, confidence, and friendship. This book would not exist without the time and space you’ve given me.
The Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the New York State Summer Writers Institute, the Millay Colony, the St. Botolph Club, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ for their support and fostering a sense of community.
Laurel Phillips, and some wonderful libraries and librarians—Skidmore College, Wellesley College, Morse Institute, Saratoga Springs Public Library, Wellesley Free Library, among others—for research help.
Everyone at Grub Street, especially Chris Castellani and Sonya Larson, for the great work you do. My workshop students always motivate me and remind me how lucky I am to be able to discuss writing and literature.
Janklow and Nesbit and their amazing staff, in particular Stephanie Koven and Amanda Schweitzer, for taking the book to new places, literally and figuratively.
Harper and HarperCanada, for all of your hard work and support: Jonathan Burnham, Iris Tupholme, Jane Beirn, Shannon Ceci, Maria Golikova, and everyone who has had a hand in bringing this book to life.
Sarah Rigby and the staff at Hutchinson, who cheered every word.
Barry Harbaugh, editor extraordinaire, for calming my (almost constant) fears and going above and beyond at every turn.
P. J. Mark, the world’s greatest agent, who took a chance on a very rough piece of a book and showed me a light at the end of a tunnel that at that time seemed very dark and on the verge of collapse. Thank you for your steadying faith.
Taylor, most of all, for your unwavering support, sacrifice, and love. No matter what was happening, no matter how busy or stressed life was, you always encouraged me to do whatever it took to get this book finished. Thank you for believing in me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JAMES SCOTT was born in Boston and grew up in upstate New York. He holds a BA from Middlebury College and an MFA from Emerson College. His fiction has appeared in Ploughshares, One Story, American Short Fiction, and other publications. He has received fellowships and awards from, among others, Yaddo, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the New York State Summer Writers Institute, and the Tin House Summer Writer’s Workshop. He lives in western Massachusetts with his wife and dog. The Kept is his first novel.
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CREDITS
Cover design by Richard Ljoenes
Cover photograph by Monique Laguë
COPYRIGHT
THE KEPT. Copyright © 2014 by James Scott. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Scott, James, 1977 February 3–
The kept / James Scott.—First edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-06-223673-9 (hardback)—ISBN 978-0-06-223665-4 (trade paperback) 1. Revenge—Fiction. 2. Domestic fiction. I. Title.
PS3619.C6654K47 2014
813'.6—dc23 2013027875
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EPub Edition JANUARY 2014 ISBN 9780062236661
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