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Credit: Jeanine Boubli |
Alyson Richman is the USA Today bestselling and #1 international bestselling author of several historical novels including The Velvet Hours, The Garden of Letters, and The Lost Wife, which is currently in development for a major motion picture. Alyson graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in art history and Japanese studies. She herself is an accomplished painter and her novels combine her deep love of art, historical research, and travel. Alyson's novels have been published in twenty-five languages and have reached the bestseller lists both in the United States and abroad. She lives on Long Island with her husband and two children, where she is currently at work on her next novel. (Bio courtesy of Alyson's website.)
1912: Harry Widener, a promising and passionate book collector, boards the Titanic holding tight to a priceless volume he’s just purchased in London. After catastrophe strikes the ship, Harry’s last known words are that he must return to his cabin to retrieve his latest treasure. Neither the young man nor the book are ever seen again. Honoring her son’s memory, Harry’s mother builds the Harry Widener Memorial Library at Harvard to house his extensive book collection and ensure his legacy.
Decades later, Violet Hutchins, a Harvard sophomore recovering from her own great loss, is working as a page at the Widener Library. When mysterious things begin happening at the library, Violet wonders if Harry Widener’s ghost is trying to communicate with her, seeking Violet to uncover a long-buried secret that the ardent young Harry took with him to the grave. (Courtesy of Amazon.)
―Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Margaret Fuller
“Just when you thought you knew everything about the Titanic, along comes Alyson Richman’s The Missing Pages, an exquisite story that is both the tender chronicle of a secret love and a love letter to everyone who adores books. . . . An ingeniously wrought masterpiece.”
―Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Family and Those Who Save Us
“The Missing Pages is a ghost story, a love story, and a library story that every bibliophile will cherish.”
―Lynda Loigman, bestselling author of The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
When I was on my book tour for The Lost Wife, a reader shared with me that before reading my novel World War II was always distant to her. As though she were looking at an old black and white film reel. But I made her feel like she was seeing it in Technicolor.
What is one thing you would tell the debut novelist version of yourself?
I would tell myself that having a creative life is not always linear, that there will be lots of setbacks, but to have confidence that when you look back at it all, everything will come from one radiating center. Your desire to create and to leave something beautiful behind when you’re no longer here.
If The Missing Pages was made into a movie, what songs would be on the soundtrack?
“The Ghost in You” by Psychedelic Furs
“Marjorie “ by Taylor Swift
“On the Nature of Daylight” by Max Richter
What is the last book you read that you would recommend?
The Artist and the Feast by Lucy Steeds.
If your life was a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it?
Helen Mirren
If we were to visit you right now, what are some places you would take us to see?
The beach that’s walking distance from my house. I love discovering beach glass and beautiful shells. I keep them in a bowl on my desk.
My local bakery, Fiorello Dolce. It has the best pastries and my favorite place to reward myself after a long day of writing.
The Next Chapter, a charming local independent bookstore that feels like you’re stepping back in time with its backroom filled with antiques and cozy sofas where you can grab a book and read.
The Missing Pages (3 print copies)
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