I was in the home stretch of the novel—the last 75 or so pages—when I had the idea for the Thanksgiving epilogue, and I was so excited that I stopped working on the main part of the story and went ahead and wrote it in a feverish day or two. Then I went back and wrote the rest of the story, the one that ends with Susanna at Emily’s bedside. I think writing the Thanksgiving section unlocked the rest of the draft; it gave me something to strive toward. It’s one of my favorite parts of the novel.