The Birth House (30 page)

Authors: Ami McKay

BOOK: The Birth House

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Thanks to the Province of Nova Scotia and the Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage for their generous support in the form of a Creation Grant.

For hands-on training, I send special thanks to my angel of a midwife, Louise MacDonald. For many hours of walking, talking and tea, I send gratitude to my midwife in friendship, determination and laughter, Jen White.

For her constant interest and guidance (and for never settling for anything less than spectacular), I am grateful to my tireless and wonderful agent, Helen Heller.

Profound thanks go to Louise Dennys for including my work in her passionate, trail-blazing advocacy of new Canadian fiction; to my publisher, Diane Martin, for her belief in my work and her keen editorial eye; to my editor, Angelika Glover, for her strong sense of vision and impeccable literary intuition; and to designer Kelly Hill for finding the true essence of my words and dressing them more finely than I could have ever imagined. Special thanks to the ladies who lunched, Marion Garner, Deirdre Molina, Kendall Anderson, Mary Giuliano, Constance MacKenzie and Jan Sibiga, for being such marvellous readers and for championing my work. Thanks also to Sue Sumeraj for her copy-editing assistance.

This book could not have been written without the support of wonderful mentors along the way. My undying respect and thanks go to Dick Miller of CBC Radio for his encouragement and sense of creativity. My friendship and admiration go to Richard Cumyn for hours of conversation and guidance. I will always be grateful to Jane Buss and the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia for their proving ground of a mentorship program.

Helpful guides in research included Dan Conlin at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, as well as the wonderful volunteers at the Kings County Historical Society and the Fieldwood Heritage Society. Additional inspiration for this work came from many wonderful kitchen table conversations and afternoon visits with Mrs. Mary Rogers Huntley, the Tupper sisters—Pat and Sharon, Calvin and Joy Tupper, Mrs. Fran Steele and Mrs. Irene Huntley. I thank you all for your generosity and your stories. Thanks also to Mrs. Rhea P. McKay for her encouragement and for sending me her copy of
The Science of a New Life
.

Although I spent many hours scribbling away in the quiet of my room, the psychic hum of my family and friends could always be felt. Thanks to my siblings, Skip, Doug and Lori, for letting me spill milk and monopolize dinner conversations. Thanks to Mom and Dad for always reading to me (and to each other) before bed. Thanks to Dawn and Marta, my daisy sisters, for lasting friendship. Thanks to Mitzi at Box of Delights for always asking, “How’s the book?” Thanks to Doretta and the other full-moon hikers (Chris, Holly and all) for hikes, picnics and fires on the beach, and for proving that moms make art. Thanks and hugs to my sons, Ian and Jo, for giving me time to make my art. Dearest thanks of all to my beloved, Ian, for taking my hand on a stormy November day and bringing me home.

About the Author

A
MI
M
C
K
AY
’
S
work has aired on CBC radio’s
Maritime Magazine, This Morning, Outfront,
and
The Sunday Edition.
Her documentary,
Daughter of Family G,
won an Excellence in Journalism Medallion at the 2003 Atlantic Journalism Awards. When she and her family moved to Scots Bay, Nova Scotia, she learned that their new home was once a birth house.

www.thebirthhouse.com

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Credits

Cover design by Robin Bilardello

Cover Photographs by Ryuhei Shindo/Getty Images and David Robin/Images.com

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

THE BIRTH HOUSE
. Copyright © 2006 by Ami McKay. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Mobipocket Reader September 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-154048-6

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