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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In a book dedicated to love, the acknowledgments page has to begin with those whom I hold nearest and dearest. The first is my mother, Gilda Wagman, who always believed in me, even when all the signposts pointed to the contrary. Next is my husband, Joel (my “and the rest is history”), for making me, in the words of Fanny Brice, “a Sadie Sadie married lady.” As she sang, “See what's on my hand / There's nothing quite as touching / As a simple wedding band.” My most fervent hope is that for my daughter, Jordanna ( Jordi) Geller, life will be the same as the three words that end classic fairy tales.

My most heartfelt thanks goes out to my three New York City fellow musketeers. Writing is my life preserver, and the first person who was instrumental in making this book a reality is my literary agent, Caren Johnson. I had, for the third time, the privilege of having Meg Leder as my editor. My publicist, Heidi Reicher, did her utmost on my book's behalf.

Lastly,
And the Rest Is History
could not have been possible without the iconic lovers whose turbulent affairs comprise this volume. Their grand passions, although often leading to heartbreak, make for grand stories.

And, in case anyone is feeling cynical about
amour
after reading these tales where the course of love ran anything but smooth, one can take hope from the case of Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher from North Carolina, who hold the record for the world's longest marriage. Herbert, 104, and Zelmyra, 101, have enjoyed eighty-six years of wedded bliss. A favorite shared pastime is sitting on their porch and counting cars. And, if that isn't heartwarming enough, the two tweeted love advice on Valentine's Day on their joint Twitter account: @longestmarried. Hence, in love, as in life, all things are possible, something that we must always believe, even against all odds.

POST SCRIPT

There is a saying that “to say good-bye is to die a little,” and it is with reluctance that I bid farewell to
And the Rest Is History
. I would like to end this volume of the romances of the ages with a love story that embodies Elizabeth Barrett Browning's quotation, “And, if God willeth / I shall but love thee better after death.”

J. R. R. Tolkien met Edith Mary Bratt when the author, at age sixteen, moved into the boarding house in which she lived. Their favorite pastime was visiting Birmingham teashops, especially one that had a balcony overlooking the sidewalk. They would sit on the balcony and throw sugar lumps into the hats of those who passed beneath them. Romance inevitably followed. They are buried side by side, in a single grave, near Tolkein's beloved Oxford. Their headstone bears the names Lúthien and Beren, fictional lovers that Tolkein created for his Middle Earth fantasies.