I remember how we used to pick the blossoms of wild honeysuckle, deep orange in color, and crush them between our fingers. I remember how we used to pull small saplings to the ground and let them go like catapults. I remember how Jeanne used to giggle and put her hands to her mouth, then pull them away and put them over mine.
Remembering is all I have of her now.
I have stopped pretending to talk to her because I don’t know what she looks like anymore, and I don’t know how she sounds. Four years old is a lot different from three years old, and I do not want to imagine her at three years old forever. I want to imagine her as she really is.
On her birthday I am going to pick flowers for her and put them on the table. I am going to buy a hat with a blue satin streamer and hang it on the back of a chair. I will ask Maman to find candy violets, even though I am not sure if violets grow in Burford as they did in Thoméry.
I am sure this will make Maman cry. I will tell her it’s going to be okay, but that it’s very important we do this every year.
It is important because someday I am going to find my little sister.
It will be hard because she will grow up, and I will grow up, and we won’t know what the other one looks like even if we’ve imagined it.
But when she sees me, and I see her, it won’t matter.
Our hearts will know each other.
Of this, I am certain.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is a joy to be able to thank all of those whose support, guidance, friendship, and love have helped me on this journey.
Immense gratitude and appreciation to Heide Lange, Rachael Dillon Fried, and the staff at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, Inc., for believing in my work and seeing the possibilities from the beginning. Thank you to Stefanie Diaz for landing such early book deals abroad, and a huge thank-you to my outstanding agent, Stephanie Delman, for her indefatigable encouragement, dedication, and excitement. I couldn’t have done any of this without my editor Laura Chasen’s meticulous notes and spot-on insight, not to mention utter faith in me. Thank you to my wonderful new editor Alicia Clancy for stepping in and seeing this through to the end. Thank you to my copy editors Sarah and Chris at Script Acuity Studio, to my production editor, Emily Walters, to my marketing team, Brant Janeway, Angie Giammarino, and Katie Bassel, and everyone at St. Martin’s Press who had a hand in getting this book out into the world.
I am deeply grateful for the wealth of information I gathered from others. Books I relied on included The Private Lives of the Impressionists by Sue Roe; Growing Up with the Impressionists: The Diary of Julie Manet; I Am the Most Interesting Book of All: The Diary of Marie Bashkirtseff, translated by Phyllis Howard Kernberger; The Belly of Paris, by Émile Zola, translated by Mark Kurlansky; The Masterpiece, by Émile Zola, edited by Roger Pearson and translated by Thomas Walton; Édouard Manet: Rebel in a Frock Coat, by Beth Archer Brombert.
Thank you to my readers for trudging through first drafts with kind and honest critique: Ariane Goodwin, Stephen Muzzy, Heather Fulton, Sarah Heinemann, Michelle King, Robert Burdick, Isaiah Weiss, Lilia Teal, Nicole Cusano, and Bob Sekula.
A bursting, heartfelt thank-you to the mentors who supported my writing in all phases: my first teachers, Michael and Rebecca Muir-Harmony, who published my work at the ripe age of six at Full Circle School’s Rumbling Raisin Press and encouraged my garrulous personality and brimming imagination; June Kuzmeskus for letting me bust through the conventional box of high school and create my own writing curriculum; and to Roni Natov for her inspiring classes at Brooklyn College and for guiding me through a thesis that led to the beginnings of my first novel.
There aren’t words enough to thank my mother, who painstakingly read every version of this novel. Suffice to say I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her scrupulous, pitch-perfect edits and, of course, her loving, motherly support. Thanks to my dad, who cried tears of joy when hearing of my book deal, who loves books more than anyone I know, and who would carve a spot in gold on his bookshelf for this one if he could.
This book is dedicated to my sister, a masterful artist and my inspiration. A thank-you pales to all she has given me.
To my children, Silas and Rowan, for sacrificing their mom to many a writing weekend and for filling my days with adventure and my heart to the brim.
Finally, to Stephen, my husband, for his unwavering love and patience, for believing we would get here one day, and for giving me a life that has allowed for all of this to be.
About the Author
Serena Burdick grew up in a small town in Western Massachusetts. She studied at Sarah Lawrence College before moving to California, where she graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and later to New York, where she majored in English literature at Brooklyn College. She has always been active in theater as well as writing with a passion about the visual arts and Paris. She has returned to Western Massachusetts, where she now lives with her husband and two sons. Girl in the Afternoon is Serena’s debut novel. Visit her online at www.serenaburdick.com. Or sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
England 1878
Paris 1870
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Paris 1873
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Paris 1874
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
London 1878
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Paris 1878
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
England 1878
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
GIRL IN THE AFTERNOON. Copyright © 2016 by Serena Burdick. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Elsie Lyons
Cover photographs: woman © Lee Avison / Trevillion Images; city © Julien Fromentin / Getty Images; pattern © George Buir / Shutterstock
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-08267-1 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-10668-1 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781250106681
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
First Edition: July 2016
Girl in the Afternoon Page 24