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    A Splendid Gift
    A Splendid Gift
    A Splendid Gift
    Ebook66 pages55 minutes

    A Splendid Gift

    By Alyson Richman

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A richly imagined story of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and author of The Little Prince, from the author of The Lost Wife and The Garden of Letters.
     March, 1942: Declared medically unfit to fly while France is beseiged by war, Saint-Exupéry languishes in homesick frustration, unable to aid his country—and unable to write. While his publisher tries in vain to ease the author’s mind, Saint-Exupéry meets the enchanting Silvia Hamilton at a cocktail party. Though they do not share a language, they are nonetheless drawn to each other, and where words fail them they find other forms of communication.
    In the proceeding months, Silvia’s warmth and grace give Saint-Exupéry the peace of mind he so desperately needs. And as their love affair flourishes, he finds himself inspired to tell a tale of such simplicity and beauty that a person of any age could find joy and comfort in it. With Silvia as his muse, he works furiously to compose his petite prince.
    Praise for the novels of Alyson Richman
    “Fans of The Lost Wife will again savor Richman's ability to tell a remarkable story about people who are unforgettable and real.”—Pam Jenoff, International bestselling author of The Other Girl
    “Moving, unforgettable and so expertly told, you have to wonder if the author has a gift of time travel—this is storytelling at its very best.”— New York Times bestselling author Sarah Jio
    “Richman’s fluid writing is filled with historical detail and strong characterization.”—Library Journal
    Alyson Richman is the author of The Mask Carver’s Son, The Rhythm of Memory, The Last Van Gogh, and The Lost Wife. She lives in Long Island with her husband and two children.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Publishing Group
    Release dateFeb 17, 2015
    ISBN9780698185418
    A Splendid Gift
    Author

    Alyson Richman

    Alyson Richman is the #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. Her novels have been published in twenty-five languages. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and lives on Long Island with her husband and two children. Find her on Instagram, @alysonrichman.

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      Book preview

      A Splendid Gift - Alyson Richman

      Cover for A Splendid Gift

      Books by Alyson Richman

      The Last Van Gogh

      The Lost Wife

      The Mask Carver’s Son

      The Rhythm of Memory

      The Garden of Letters

      A Splendid Gift

      Alyson Richman

      InterMix Books, New York

      INTERMIX BOOKS

      PUBLISHED BY THE PENGUIN GROUP

      PENGUIN GROUP (USA) LLC

      375 HUDSON STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10014, USA

      775.jpg

      USA • Canada • UK • Ireland • Australia • New Zealand • India • South Africa • China

      penguin.com

      A Penguin Random House Company

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      A SPLENDID GIFT

      An InterMix Book / published by arrangement with the author

      PUBLISHING HISTORY

      InterMix eBook edition / February 2015

      Copyright © 2015 by Alyson Richman.

      Excerpt from The Garden of Letters copyright © 2014 by Alyson Richman.

      Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

      For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

      a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC,

      375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

      eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-18541-8

      INTERMIX

      InterMix Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group

      and New American Library, divisions of Penguin Group (USA) LLC,

      375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

      INTERMIX® and the IM design are registered trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) LLC

      Version_1

      CONTENTS

      Books by Alyson Richman

      Title Page

      Copyright

      Foreword

      A Splendid Gift

      Acknowledgments

      Excerpt from The Garden of Letters

      About the Author

      Foreword

      Shortly after I finished my latest novel, The Garden of Letters, which contains several plot references to The Little Prince, I learned that the author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, wrote his iconic story while shuttling between homes in New York City and Long Island, New York, in the spring and summer of 1942. More interesting to me personally was that he rented the Bevin House, a French-style, twenty-two room mansion situated in Eaton’s Neck, which is a remote area of Asharoken, New York, facing out onto Huntington Harbor. My own home sits directly across from Eaton’s Neck and shares the same mirror view of the harbor. I was immediately struck by the coincidence that Saint-Exupéry looked upon—and was inspired by—the same glimmering bay and rocky shore that I had while I was crafting The Garden of Letters. As I began to further investigate his time on Long Island, I learned that the Frenchman took secret trips to Manhattan to visit a woman who had captured his heart and became the basis for the character of the wise fox in The Little Prince. Much like my character Luca in The Garden of Letters, a bookseller who, during the Italian Resistance, gifts his copy of The Little Prince to his beloved Elodie, Saint-Exupéry believed that even if a couple is separated by distance or even death, true love continues to exist beyond the stars.

      March 1942

      New York City

      That evening, after she had put her son to bed, peeled off her rollers, and reapplied her lipstick, Silvia was nothing short of a comet as she hailed a taxi, the invitation to the cocktail party fluttering between her fingers.

      She read the driver the address and settled against the backseat. The night was damp, and as the wind streamed through the driver’s half-opened window, she considered asking him to roll up the glass in order to protect her hair. But Silvia found the air invigorating, so she untied the scarf around her neck, wrapped it over the top of her head, and tied a small knot underneath her chin. Her very own silk helmet to protect her coiffure. As they barreled down Park Avenue, the New York skyline brilliantly illuminated, she closed her eyes and felt the freedom of the night unfurling before her. With the car’s wheels rolling underneath, she imagined herself taking flight.

      She had been told by the hostess that the famous French pilot, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, would be in attendance, and that

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