The Smash-Up Read online

  We have been through so much together, you and I.

  I pull back now, look at you, and a new question forms on my lips. It’s a simple, two-word query, not unlike what happened. But instead of moving us backward, into all the places we’ve already trod, this one propels us forward, into what might yet be.

  Not what happened, not that anymore, but instead, simply, What’s next?

  FOR A WOMAN NAMED SILENCE

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  With thanks to:

  My agent Mollie Glick and editor Kate Medina, as well as Noa Shapiro and Lola Bellier. The entire team at Random House, especially Gina Centrello, Andy Ward, Avideh Bashirrad, Benjamin Dreyer, Rebecca Berlant, Cindy Berman, Sandra Sjursen, Joe Perez, Diane Hobbing, Maria Braeckel, Susan Corcoran, Carrie Neil, Leigh Marchant, Barbara Fillon, Jess Bonet, and Matthew Martin.

  All those who helped in ways large and small: Jennifer Berry, Sheila Boyle, Molly Burnham, Leslie Connor, Rónadh Cox, Sam Crane, Lisa Cushman, Marisa Daley, Jackie Davies, Caspian Dennis, Jessica Dils, Joe Finnegan, Tracy Finnegan, Elinor Goodwin, Kerry Hoffman, Lita Judge, Karen Kelly, Molly Kerns, Grace Lin, Shari Marquis, Jon Riley, Mariko Sakurai, Noah Sandstrom, Michael Schaeffer, Alexis Schaitkin, Geraldine Shen, Amy Simon, Matt Syrett, Cathy Thompson, Cynthia Wade, Tom Wade, Meredith Walsh, Heather Williams, Kim W, the Tunnel City coffee/trivia crew, my GT family, and of course my actual family, especially Blair, Meredith, and Charlotte.

  Edith Wharton, for the inspiration.

  Dr. Christine Blaséy Ford, and Anita Hill before her, for telling the truth.

  BY ALI BENJAMIN

  The Thing About Jellyfish

  The Smash-Up

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Ali Benjamin is the author of the young adult novel The Thing About Jellyfish, an international bestseller and a National Book Award finalist. The Next Great Paulie Fink was named a top children’s book of the year by Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, the New York Public Library, and the Los Angeles Public Library. Her work has been published in more than twenty-five languages in more than thirty countries. Originally from the New York City area, she now lives in Massachusetts. This is her first adult novel.

  alibenjamin.com

  Instagram: @alibenjamin

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