The Coffee Trader

Acknowledgments

Novels are by no means solitary pursuits, and this book could never have happened without the help of many wonderful people.

My first and heartiest thanks go to those who offered me their time and knowledge: J. W. Smit, Deby Abram, Henk Reitsma, Harko Keijzer, and the staff of the Jewish Historical Museum of Amsterdam. I cannot sufficiently thank Rienk Tychon, Thille Dop, and everyone at the offices of Uitgeverij Luitingh-Sijthoff, who made my research in the Netherlands infinitely more productive and enjoyable. Samantha Heller and Sue Laizik read early versions of the novel, and their suggestions were invaluable.

Once again, I am in debt to the people at Random House, particularly Dennis Ambrose, Robbin Schiff, and, of course, my editor Jonathan Karp, whose guidance, enthusiasm, and superhuman editing make my work so much more manageable. And I am eternally grateful to my agent, Liz Darhansoff, and everyone at Darhansoff, Verrill and Feldman for their ceaseless efforts.

It would be impossible to catalog the reasons I am indebted to my friends and family-the support, the enthusiasm, and, perhaps most important, the willingness to listen while I thought out loud. Still, I must point out that this book owes a great deal to the kindness, patience, as well as the sometimes smarting honesty of my wife, Claudia Stokes. Thanks for making me do that rewrite. Our daughter, Eleanor, provided unceasing inspiration with her silliness and inexhaustible supply of good cheer. She motivated me in a thousand ways on a thousand occasions. And I’m grateful to Tiki, the orange foundling, for showing up at just the right time.