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The Missing Pages
Description
From a bestselling author comes a love story, a ghost story, and an elegy to the healing power of books, perfect for readers of The Personal Librarian and The Woman in the Library.
Harry Widener boards the Titanic holding tight to a priceless book he just purchased in London. After mayhem strikes the ship, Harry’s last known words are that he must return to his cabin for his treasure. Neither the young man nor the book are seen again. In his honor, his mother builds the Harry Widener Memorial Library at Harvard to memorialize her son and house his extensive book collection.
Decades later, Violet Hutchins, a Harvard sophomore recovering from her own great loss, is working as a page at the Widener Library. When strange things begin happening—books falling off shelves or opening to random pages—Violet wonders if Harry Widener’s ghost is trying to communicate the missing pieces of his story from beyond the grave.
Harry Widener boards the Titanic holding tight to a priceless book he just purchased in London. After mayhem strikes the ship, Harry’s last known words are that he must return to his cabin for his treasure. Neither the young man nor the book are seen again. In his honor, his mother builds the Harry Widener Memorial Library at Harvard to memorialize her son and house his extensive book collection.
Decades later, Violet Hutchins, a Harvard sophomore recovering from her own great loss, is working as a page at the Widener Library. When strange things begin happening—books falling off shelves or opening to random pages—Violet wonders if Harry Widener’s ghost is trying to communicate the missing pieces of his story from beyond the grave.
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Praise
An unforgettable story about the power of love over loss, the extraordinary capacity of books to provide inspiration and solace, and the surprising—and sometimes supernatural—way in which the past exists alongside the present. Alyson Richman's The Missing Pages is a bibliophile's page-turner.
—Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of The Personal Librarian
"Richman skillfully weaves together history and fiction as she revisits the sinking of the Titanic, relates the history of the Widener Library, and fictionalizes real-life figure Harry Widener"
—Library Journal, STARRED Review
—Library Journal, STARRED Review
“The Missing Pages is a powerful reminder that it is not just the souls that were lost when the Titanic was gashed by an iceberg: it was their stories, too, that vanished that night.”
—Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Alyson Richman is a master storyteller at the top of her craft, and this is her best work yet. The Missing Pages is a celebration of the love of books and the enduring strength of the human heart. Lyrical, unexpected, and soul-stirring—I can't remember the last time I was so charmed by a novel.”
—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
“Alyson Richman’s novels are always meaningful, both carefully researched and beautifully written. But The Missing Pages is, without question, Richman’s most innovative and compelling book yet. Inspired by an often told, possibly true tale of Titanic victim and Harvard graduate Harry Elkins Widener’s last-minute decision to return to his cabin for a mysterious book, The Missing Pages weaves stunning historical details, supernatural suspense, and a thoughtful exploration of one mother’s grief and the memorial she creates to honor her son’s memory. 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