I want to thank my husband, Dave Scott, who endures my fits of frustration and let me read these pages aloud to him, day after day, and who knows his way around a fight scene. I’m thankful for all of those who read early drafts—Alix Reid, Frank Giampietro, Kate Peterson, Kirsten Carleton, and Heather Whitaker, brilliant minds; and special thanks to my agents, Nat Sobel, Judith Weber, and Justin Manask, who believe in me, push me, and help me navigate the world. I’m thankful for Karen Rosenfelt and Emmy Castlen—I admire them so much and am honored that they responded to the novel as they did. I’m thankful for all of my overseas editors, and my editor here at home, Jaime Levine—thank you, thank you, thank you.
The research for this novel led me to accounts of the effects of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During the editing process, I found the nonfiction book Last Train from Hiroshima by Charles Pellegrino, which is not currently being sold by its publisher. It was a crucial read for me because of its depictions of those lost and those who survived. I hope a revised edition finds its way back onto shelves. And I hope, in general, that Pure directs people to nonfiction accounts of the atomic bomb—horrors we cannot afford to forget.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julianna Baggott, critically acclaimed, bestselling author who also writes under the pen names Bridget Asher and N. E. Bode, has published seventeen books, including novels for adults, younger readers, and collections of poetry. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Best American Poetry, Best Creative Nonfiction, Real Simple, on NPR.org, as well as read on NPR’s Talk of the Nation and Here and Now. Her novels have been book-pick selections by People magazine’s summer reading, Washington Post book-of-the-week, a Booksense selection, a Boston Herald Book Club selection, and on the Kirkus Best Books of the Year list. Her novels have been published in over fifty overseas editions. She’s a professor in the Creative Writing program at Florida State University and the founder of the nonprofit Kids in Need—Books in Deed.
Books by Julianna Baggott
Girl Talk
The Miss America Family
The Madam
Which Brings Me to You, co-written with Steve Almond
This Country of Mothers, poetry
Lizzie Borden in Love, poetry
Compulsions of Silkworms and Bees, poetry
The Prince of Fenway Park, for younger readers
The Ever Breath, for younger readers
Under the Pen Name Bridget Asher
My Husband’s Sweethearts
The Pretend Wife
The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted
Under the Pen Name N. E. Bode
The Anybodies Trilogy, for younger readers
The Slippery Map, for younger readers
The Amazing Compendium of Edward Magorium, for younger readers
Contents
FRONT COVER IMAGE
WELCOME
DEDICATION
PROLOGUE
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
LYDA
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
LYDA
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
PRESSIA
EL CAPITAN
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
LYDA
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
LYDA
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
EL CAPITAN
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
EL CAPITAN
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
PRESSIA
PRESSIA
PRESSIA
PRESSIA
PRESSIA
LYDA
PARTRIDGE
LYDA
PARTRIDGE
LYDA
PRESSIA
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
EL CAPITAN
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
PARTRIDGE
PRESSIA
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BOOKS BY JULIANNA BAGGOTT
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Julianna Baggott
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Grand Central Publishing
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First e-book Edition: February 2012
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ISBN 978-1-4555-0304-9