Angela Flournoy - The Turner House

Thank you to my agent, Ellen Levine, for your patience, your sense of humor, and your willingness to step in and advocate for me. To Jenna Johnson at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for working tirelessly for this book, and for buying those nachos. Margaret Wimberger helped me wrangle my dates and character ages, which was no easy task.

I’ve had so many wonderful teachers. I’m grateful to Michelle Huneven and Alexander Chee for being insightful advisors and excellent friends. Thank you to those who have read some incarnation of this book, and to those whose lessons made my writing stronger: Lan Samantha Chang, Marilynne Robinson, Elizabeth McCracken, ZZ Packer, the gracious and generous Allan Gurganus, T. C. Boyle, Daniel Alarcón, and Michael Martone. Thank you to Connie Brothers for being kindhearted and no-nonsense, a winning combination.

For reading my work, laughing along, pushing me, and believing: Emma Borges-Scott, Evan James, and Jihan Thompson. A million hugs and a grand jeté for the brilliant, understanding Robert Valadéz.

Thank you to Justin Torres and Ayana Mathis for taking me seriously even when I did not take myself very seriously, and for showing me how the work can be its own reward.

A mi hermana Yuly Restrepo: abrazos a vos por todo.

Thank you to my girlfriends Zoé Zeigler, Vallery Lomas, Sophia Williams, Jasmine Alexander, and all of my Somerville family. Let’s keep shining. To Gene Demby, PostBourgie mastermind, for nudging me to see issues differently and inspiring me to hustle harder.

To Stephanie Parker, Kiana Butler, and Martinique Williams: happy ten years to us! Thank you to my Sorors from the Upsilon Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, for your constant cheerleading, and for letting me crash on couches near and far.

Thank you to John Roussel for our decade.

To my younger siblings, Jordan Harmon and Joy Flournoy, thank you for being constant sources of happiness. To my older sister, Candice Marie Flournoy, you showed me how to love hard and laugh harder. We made it.

Angela Flournoy is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she received a Dean’s Fellowship, and the University of Southern California. She has taught writing at the University of Iowa and Trinity Washington University and has worked for the District of Columbia Public Library. She was raised in Southern California by a mother from Los Angeles and a father from Detroit.

VISIT www.angelaflournoy.com.