My early, early readers won’t even recognize what this book has finally become, and I’m sure they’ll be pleased about that. Thanks to William DeArmond, one of my dearest, smartest friends, who read it in its infancy and then again in its old age; to the brilliant Nathanael Johnson, who also reminds me a little bit of Jack; and to the amazing Hawaiian filmmaker Anne Keala Kelly, who doesn’t mince words and who keeps me on track about all things indigenous.
Rebecca Grabill and Elizabeth Schoenfeld, thanks for a wonderful writing retreat at Bald Head Island in North Carolina (and in Frisco, Colorado, Elizabeth) and for teaching me how to use Scrivener. Thanks to Anne Schwab for opening your cabin in Minnesota to me and to Jodi Baker for giving us weary writers a tour of your apple orchard. Much of this book was written at the Abbey of St. Walburga in Colorado, a place filled with ranching nuns who inspire me.
The Alaska poets who so graciously allowed me to use their poems—John Straley, Nancy White Carlstrom, and Ann Chandonnet—I cannot thank you enough. I have admired all of you for years.
I am indebted to my Athabascan and Inupiat friends who gave me permission to fictionalize aspects of their stories. I understand why you want to remain anonymous but admire and respect everything you do and all you’ve taught me.
Thank you, Nellie Moore, for reading and for being so patient with me for so many years. Now get back to work!
To my agent, Molly Ker Hawn, with whom I knew I wanted to work the minute she tweeted about catching her hair on fire while out to dinner with her in-laws. You are a ball of fire yourself, and I am so thrilled that you never gave up on this book. Or me.
Alice Swan, my lovely, lovely editor at Faber and Faber. Without you, most of the characters in this book would have perished in the Alaskan landscape. You were right that there is more hope in the world than I can sometimes see, but I will keep looking. The entire Faber crew, including Hannah Love, Grace Gleave, Sarah Savitt, and Rebecca Lewis-Oakes, has been just marvelous. Apologies to anyone I may be forgetting; many thanks to you all.
Wendy Lamb and Dana Carey, thank you for the hours and hours you spent on this with so much emotion and energy and the undying belief that it could become what it was supposed to become; and thank you to everyone else at Random House for your care and enthusiasm, especially copy editors Ellen Lind and Colleen Fellingham, designer Trish Parcell, and readers Alexandra Borbolla, Sarah Eckstein, Teria Jennings, Elena Meuse, Makenna Sidle, Alexandra West, and Hannah Weverka. Wendy, thank you for opening your door for us in New York and for keeping it open throughout this whole process.
Ray Shappell, thank you for the gorgeous Random House cover—you nailed it.
Lori Roth Adams, without your Christmas card I would have forgotten about the importance of fishing charts—but never do I underestimate the importance of friends.
Chris Todd, thank you for bringing me coffee in bed every single morning, even when I didn’t deserve it, and for reading way too many drafts (even the ones you said you read but only skimmed).
Most of all, to Dylan and Sylvia—millions and millions of mallards to the two people who save me over and over again every single day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock was born and raised in Alaska. She worked many years fishing commercially with her family and as a reporter for Alaska Public Radio stations around the state. She was also the host and producer of “Independent Native News,” a daily newscast produced in Fairbanks, focusing on Alaska Natives, American Indians, and Canada’s First Nations. The Smell of Other People’s Houses is her first novel.
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The Smell of Other People's Houses Page 17