What Happened to Sophie Wilder (29 page)

I have been blessed with great friends, and I thank all of them. I offer particular thanks to those who read this manuscript or otherwise contributed to its completion: Bret Asbury, Millicent Bennett, Brian DeLeeuw, Jim Fuerst, Macy Halford, Dane Huckelbridge, Alexis Rudisill, Benjamin Taylor, and Moira Weigel. The Twin Keys kept me honest.

Thanks to everyone at
Harper's Magazine
.

Much of this book was conceived while I sat beside Mimi Escott in her final months. She gave me not just her permission but her encouragement to make use of the time we spent together in whatever way my imagination saw fit. This was a gift she hardly owed me, but it pales beside the gift of having known her for twenty-seven years. I think of her every day, as I will for so long as I have thoughts to think. I thank her, Sanny Beha, and all the Escotts, Ganses, and Radloffs.

Finally, and essentially, neither this book nor its author could have survived without the love and support of Jim (mon semblable, mon frere!) and Alyson Beha, Mary Alice and Len Teti, or my parents, Jim and Nancy Beha, to whom this book is proudly dedicated. My six nieces and nephews are an endless wonder to me, and the two who will be added to that count by the time this book sees the light of day are an inspiration. You saved me, and I love you all.

Copyright © 2012 Christopher R. Beha

 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, contact Tin House Books, 2617 NW Thurman St., Portland, OR 97210.

 

Published by Tin House Books, Portland, Oregon, and New York, New York

 

Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West, 1700 Fourth St., Berkeley, CA 94710,
www.pgw.com

 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

 

Beha, Christopher R. What happened to Sophie Wilder : a novel / by Christopher R. Beha. —1st U.S. ed.

p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-935-63932-9

I. Title.
PS3602.E375W47 2012
813'.6—dc23

2012005758

 

What Happened to Sophie Wilder
contains phrases from Wallace Stevens's “Country Words,” T. S. Eliot's “Ash Wednesday,” Immanuel Kant's
Critique of Pure Reason
, Robert Frost's “Stars,” and Rainer Maria Rilke's “Autumn Day.”