The Orphanmaster (58 page)

Chapter five
’s “two-legged cheese worm” quote is from a seventeenth-century pamphlet,
Tractaat van het Excellente Kryd Thee
, by Cornelis Bontekoe, excerpted in Simon Schama’s excellent account of Dutch culture in the Golden Age,
The Embarrassment of Riches
. The sermon in chapter nineteen is modified from a text by the Puritan preacher Richard Baxter, “Directions Against Sinful Fear,” in
The Practical Works of Richard
Baxter
. The dialogue exchange between the German “shiv-man” and the Polish sailor in chapter forty-seven is based on a passage in
Peter Stuyvesant: The Last Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam
, by John S. C. Abbott.

I’d like to acknowledge my debt to several people for their help and encouragement. Paul Slovak bowled me over with his immediate enthusiastic embrace of this project. Betsy Lerner acted as a superb sounding board, first editor and—most of all—friend. Betty and Steve Zimmerman provided support without which
The Orphanmaster
could not have been written. Maud Reavill offered her usual winning combination of intelligence, skepticism and ebullience. My husband, Gil Reavill, gave vital input throughout, including a nudge to get me started. “Write me a murder,” Gil said, and I did.