The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus (23 page)

If reading about Samantha's butterscotch brownies has left you with an insatiable craving, here is our family's favorite recipe:

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

 

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over low heat, and stir in the light and dark brown sugar until a lovely deep-caramel-colored goo forms. Pour the goo into a large bowl, and while it is cooling, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, butterscotch chips, and walnuts together in a medium-sized bowl.

 

Next, add the vanilla to the cooled goo, and beat in the eggs—one at a time. Then, pour in all the premixed dry ingredients, and stir well.

 

Coat a 9"×12" pan with cooking spray. Spread the batter in the pan, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake. You'll know the brownies are done when you can stick a toothpick into the center and it comes up dry.

 

Cool the brownies in the pan, on a wire rack. They'll be easier to cut if you refrigerate them first. But will you be able to wait till then? A frosty glass of milk beckons….

I'd like to thank Dr. Paul Crane for delivering my babies so well (back when I could
have
babies). And I'd like to thank my husband, Bennett Tramer, for helping me
make
my babies. I'd also like to thank my babies: thank you, Jeremy, for being funny with a plunger and for leading me to Eastern Gabon; and thank you, Ava, for asking “Is my whole body three?” and for turning me on to Ellen Langer's study. And thank
you
, Ellen Langer, for
doing
that study—I can feel my fingers growing longer even as I type this.

My deepest gratitude to the awesome Ladies of the Pink Kitchen—Ann Wagner, Betsy Rosenthal, April Halprin Way-land, Ruth Bornstein, and Peg Leavitt—for your wisdom, support, and expert critiquing. I literally couldn't have done it without you. And here are some deep curtsies for Linda Sue Park, Sara Pennypacker, Debbie Wiles, and Amy Goldman Koss, for reading early drafts and tugging me out of various quagmires. And thanks to you too, my darling Rosie Brock, for your thought-provoking reading guide, which can be found on my website (www.sonyasones.com) and on the HarperCollins website (www.harpercollins.com/readers/browseguides.aspx).

A doff of my hat to Dr. Richard Gold (who is neither short nor round nor bald nor seventy) for loaning me his patter, to Amy and Mitch Koss for their pinecone trick, and to Andrew Roth for answering that age-old question, “What do girls have that boys
don't
have?” And let us not forget Becky Evans, general manager of the Cambria Pines Lodge, whose kind hospitality made it possible for me to lock myself into the loveliest of cottages (913!) until I finally finished this manuscript.

I'm indebted to my agent Steven Malk, for never once
pressuring me, always inspiring me, and continuing to work his considerable magic. And here's a round of heartfelt applause and a wow-that-was-fun! for my brilliant editor Sally Kim, upon whom Roxie was
not
based. Although they are both great kids. And hugs to my hunchie, Maya Ziv, who held down the fort exquisitely.

And, of course, I am grateful to Myra Cohn Livingston for teaching me to write poetry, and to you, gentle reader, for staying in the theater till the very end of the credits.

What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

What My Mother Doesn't Know

Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy

Cover design by Milan Bozic

Cover illustrations by Marika Kandelaki