by Sara Donati
I have tried to be as true to the geography of Manhattan in 1802 as the record will allow. All institutions (Almshouse, theaters, shops, the New-York Dispensary, African Free School, taverns, churches, docks, etc.) have been left in their original locations, insofar as that information was available. Developments in what is now known as the Adirondack park are less documented for the same period, and much of that part of the story’s location is based on approximation and guesswork. The village of Paradise is fictional, but it is situated on a site on the west bank of the Sacandaga with some ruins called “White House,” which may have been a single homestead or a small village.
I am especially thankful to historians and librarians for their assistance. Dan Prosterman combed through the resources at the New York City Municipal Archives for hours, and the staff at the New-York Historical Society and the New York Public Library were tremendously helpful in locating information and documents. Steven Lopata provided information on chemical laboratories, Adrienne Mayor was helpful in tracking down information about fossils and related myths in the Hudson Valley, Jim and Janet Gilsdorf continue to provide excellent medical information.
To my perceptive, watchful, and ever dependable readers and friends, Suzanne Paola, Patricia Bolton, and S/He Who Must Not Be Named, my endless gratitude. I am also thankful to the UCross Foundation for a month’s seclusion in the high desert of Wyoming in which to write, to Harmony and Loren Kellogg for support, friendship, and the gift of refuge and a house with a view. Tamar Groffman provided another kind of peaceful space and calm guidance that made all the difference in the hardest times.
As always I am thankful to my agent and friend, Jill Grinberg, to my splendid editor, Wendy McCurdy, and to Nita Taublib for their encouragement and enthusiasm.
And of course there’s Tuck, Bill, and Beth—now and always.
About the Author
SARA DONATI lives with her husband and daughter in the Pacific Northwest, where she is at work on her next novel.
LAKE IN THE CLOUDS
A Bantam Book
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Bantam hardcover edition published August 2002
Bantam mass market edition/May 2003
Published by Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2002 by Sara Donati
Maps by Laura Hartman Maestro
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002018217
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eISBN: 978-0-553-89751-7
v3.0