Diamond Head (37 page)
Authors: Cecily Wong
“The last thing,” Amy whispers, drawing her eyes from her daughter. “The most important thing. The heaviest burden.”
Amy looks up now; she focuses on the sky above.
“You, Bohai, were the great love of my life. You always have been. You are the greatest man I have ever known, the only man who never let me down, the man who loved me unconditionally, who never gave me reason to doubt. As the man who taught me to love, who showed me how love should be, I will always love you. And despite my flaws, my vast, enormous flaws—every day I will feel blessed to have been your wife.”
Theresa reaches across the casket and places her palms on her mother’s hands, presses them against her father’s heart. The lowering sun lights Amy from behind, her honesty radiant, her face shrouded in shadow. Theresa leans into the rounded wood and something heavy, something luminous shifts within her.
Across the valley, over the Koolau Range, a mighty volcano darkens below a blistering sky, breaking from gold to amber; a dormant silhouette.
Below Theresa’s skin, beneath her lungs, her son stretches his limbs.
When I embarked on the journey of trying to write a novel, I had no concept of how many people it takes to nurture a book, both editorially and emotionally. I worked on this novel for five years, growing socially weirder and more deranged as time progressed, and my saving grace was consistently the people who surrounded me, who pulled me from the depths, who quieted the crazy and pushed me forward. I have been extraordinarily blessed by the people who have donated their time and their brilliance to help get me here, and I am truly grateful for all they’ve done.
Before I even knew I was writing a novel, I think Mary Gordon did, and her faith in my work was the fuel for this book. Generous with her time and her knowledge, Mary continues to be one of the sagest women I know.
To Genevieve Gagne-Hawes, a razor-sharp editor and perfect stranger who stuck with me and this book for years before anyone believed in it, when no one wanted it, when I paid for her editing with bottles of Lambrusco and rides to Newark Airport.
To my agent, Meredith Kaffel, whose steadfast vision and dazzling tenacity have turned my dreams into reality. Charming and warm and effortlessly talented—every day, I feel blessed to have found her.
To Maya Ziv, the kind of editor that makes a writer’s job luxurious. Her clear eye has added depth and precision to every page of this book. I rarely disagree with Maya, and when I do, I’m usually wrong.
To my parents, Kono and Susan Wong, who are two of the coolest,
most encouraging parents in the universe. They’ve trusted me every step of the way and have been selfless in their support, resolute in their belief that life should be lived to the brim. My mom, the wisest woman in the world, taught me what it means to be fated to my dad, who is kind and hilarious and a rock to us all.
To my Grandpa and Grandma Wong and my Popo and Gung Gung Hee, whose generous stories have been integral to both my life and my book. I am lucky to come from such a genuine and bighearted lineage.
To Stephanie Sisco, Emily Hathaway, and Allegra Sachs—three of the best girlfriends a writer could ask for. Champions from the beginning to the end, these extraordinary women read years of drafts and rejections. Their unwavering enthusiasm for a book that might never be published was hugely important to me.
To Ashley, Galen, Lindsay, Mason, Rachel, and Saranya—friends who read drafts, who offered insight and encouragement throughout the years.
And finally, to Read, the man behind everything. I can’t count how many breakdowns Read has endured with impossible grace, how many threats to give up and set myself on fire. Read is the reason this book is a book, and his stubborn faith in me and my story is what makes me believe that fate and destiny are well within reach, if only you are willing to fight for it.
CECILY WONG
is Chinese-Hawaiian. She was born on Oahu and raised in Oregon.
Diamond Head
grew from family stories told to her by her parents and grandparents. Wong graduated from Barnard College, where the first pages of this novel won the Peter S. Prescott Prize for Prose Writing. She lives in New York City.
DIAMOND HEAD.
Copyright © 2015 by Cecily Wong. 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
ISBN 978-0-06-234543-1
EPub Edition April 2015 ISBN 9780062345455
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