Taste of Honey (48 page)

Authors: Eileen Goudge

Goudge with her mother looking at old family photographs at her mother’s beach house in Santa Cruz, California.

Goudge in her condo in midtown Manhattan in 2010. Sandy Kenyon, her husband, took the photograph. On Saturdays, Eileen’s favorite activity is to walk around the city with Sandy, exploring new neighborhoods.

Acknowledgments

In lieu of the usual acknowledgments—those of you deserving thanks, you know who you are—I would like to take this opportunity to make mention of the fact that something extraordinary occurred during the writing of this book: September 11th. I was heading upstairs to my office when the news came. Along with millions of others across the land, I watched in horror as the twin towers collapsed. Living in New York City made it especially poignant. In the days that followed I couldn’t walk out my door without seeing the photos of all those missing loved ones, and weeping at the almost certain knowledge that they would not be found alive.

I was luckier than most. I could retreat daily to the safety of my fictional town, Carson Springs, where the destinies of my characters weren’t controlled by terrorists, or even acts of God. It was me moving the chess pieces about the board, a sense of empowerment that seized hold in my everyday life as well, saving me from the worst of the anxieties that plagued us as a nation. A reminder that we are all, ultimately, captains of our souls, if not of our fates.

I would like to pay tribute to all who were lost on that terrible day. They are the true heroes and heroines. Mine exist only on paper, while the memories of those slain live on in the minds and hearts of their families and friends.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

cover design by Karen Horton

978-1-4532-2302-4

This edition published in 2011 by Open Road Integrated Media

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New York, NY 10014

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