The women began writing thirty years ago. Deb was in college, Val a new teacher. Avid readers of historical fiction, the idea of authoring their own story blossomed from a conversation driving home one night. “We could write our own book. I can envision the main character.” Within a day, an early plot had been hatched and the first scenes committed to paper. Three years later, the would-be authors had half of an elaborate novel written, numerous hand-drafted scenes, five hundred typed pages, and no idea how to tie up the complicated story threads. The book languished, life intervened, and the work was put on the back burner for two decades.
Both women assert the rejuvenating spark was peculiarly coincidental. Though Val and Deb live thirty miles apart, on Thanksgiving weekend 2002, unbeknownst to each other, they spontaneously picked up the unfinished manuscript and began to read. The following week, Deb e-mailed Val to tell her she’d been reading “the book.” It was a wonderful work begging to be finished, and Deb had some fresh ideas. By January, the women’s creative energies were flowing again.
Unlike twenty years earlier, Deb and Val had computer technology on their side, but there were different challenges. Their literary pursuit had to be worked into real life responsibilities: children, marriages, households, and jobs. The women stole every spare moment, working late at night, in the wee hours of morning, and on weekends. The dictionary, thesaurus, and grammar books became their close companions. Snow days were a gift. No school, no work. Deb could pack up overnight bags, and head to Val’s house with her two children. The cousins played while the writers collaborated.
Wherever the women went, they brought the Duvoisins along. From sports and dance practices to doctors’ offices, from business trips to vacations, an opportunity to work on their “masterpiece” was rarely wasted. One Fourth of July, Val and Deb edited away on their laptops on blankets in the middle of a New Hampshire baseball field while their families waited for night to fall and the fireworks to begin.
Both women agree the experience has been rewarding and unexpectedly broad in scope. Writing a story was only the beginning of a long endeavor that included extensive research, arduous editing, and painstaking proofreading. Next came the query letters sent to agents and publishers, each meeting a dead end. Self-publishing was the only option—a stepping-stone that would enable them to compile a portfolio of reviews and positive feedback. Thus they became adept at marketing their work, all in the pursuit of reaching a traditional publisher. Within two years an agent had stepped in and HarperCollins agreed to publish the work as a trilogy.
Today, the women look back at their accomplishment. The benefits have been immeasurable. Perhaps the dearest is the bond of sisterhood that deepened: they have shared a unique journey unknown to most sisters. Their greatest satisfaction, however, has been seeing their unfinished work come to fruition: the Duvoisin story has finally been told.
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DIRECTORY OF CHARACTERS
ON CHARMANTES:
The Duvoisin Family:
Frederic Duvoisin—Patriarch and master of Charmantes; son of Jean Duvoisin II, founder of Les Charmantes (deceased); brother of Jean III (deceased)
Elizabeth Blackford Duvoisin—Frederic’s first wife (deceased 1808)
John Duvoisin—Only son of Frederic and Elizabeth; heir to the Duvoisin fortune (born 1808)
Paul Duvoisin—Frederic’s illegitimate son (born 1808)
Colette Duvoisin—Frederic’s second wife (born 1810; deceased 1837)
Yvette and Jeannette Duvoisin—Twin daughters of Frederic and Colette (born 1828)
Pierre Duvoisin—Youngest son of Frederic and Colette (born 1834; deceased 1837)
Agatha Blackford Ward Duvoisin—Older sister of Frederic’s late wife, Elizabeth; John’s aunt; Frederic’s third wife
People living in the Duvoisin Mansion:
Charmaine Ryan—Heroine of the story (born 1818 in Richmond, Virginia), governess to the Duvoisin children; only child of Marie and John Ryan
Rose Richards—Elderly nursemaid to Yvette, Jeannette & Pierre; formerly nanny to John & Paul; originally hired by Jean II to care for Frederic as a young boy
Professor Richards—Rose Richards’s husband; formerly tutor to John & Paul; initially hired by Jean II as a tutor for Frederic (deceased)
George Richards—Rose and Professor Richards’s grandson; close friend of John & Paul; production manager and overall supervisor of island operations (born 1809)
Duvoisin Servants:
Jane Faraday— Head housekeeper
Travis Thornfield—Butler and Frederic’s personal valet
Gladys Thornfield—Travis’s wife; Agatha’s personal maid
Millie and Joseph Thornfield—Travis and Gladys’s children
Felicia Flemmings—Housemaid
Anna Smith—Housemaid
Fatima Henderson—Cook
Rachel—Scullery maid
Gerald—Head groom
Bud—Stablehand
Islanders:
Dr. Robert Blackford—Island physician; Agatha’s twin brother; older brother to Frederic’s first wife, Elizabeth; John’s uncle
Dr. Adam Hastings—Island’s new physician
Harold Browning—Charmantes’ overseer
Caroline Browning—Harold’s wife; sister of Loretta Harrington
Gwendolyn Browning—Harold and Caroline’s only daughter
Stephen Westphal—Charmantes’ financier; manager of the town bank
Anne Westphal London—Stephen’s widowed daughter; resides in Richmond
Mercedes Wells—Anne London’s personal lady’s maid and attendant
Father Benito St. Giovanni—Island priest
Jake Watson—Harbor foreman
Buck Mathers—Dockworker
Madeline Thompson (Maddy)—Mercantile proprietress
Wade Remmen—Lumbermill operator
Rebecca Remmen—Wade’s younger sister; friend of Gwendolyn Browning
Martin—Livery hostler and town farrier
Dulcie—Proprietress of the town tavern
IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA:
Marie Ryan—Charmaine’s mother, abandoned as a young child at the St. Jude Refuge; (deceased 1835)
John Ryan—Charmaine’s fugitive father
Father Michael Andrews—Pastor of St. Jude’s Church and Refuge
Sister Elizabeth—Nun and teacher at the St. Jude Refuge
Stuart Simons—John Duvoisin’s production manager
Brian Duvoisin—freed slave; John Duvoisin’s overseer
Nettie Duvoisin—Brian’s wife; freed slave
Joshua Harrington—Charmaine’s first employer
Loretta Harrington—Joshua’s wife; sister of Caroline Browning
Edward Richecourt— Duvoisin lawyer
Helen Richecourt—Edward’s wife
Mary & Raymond Stanton—friends of Loretta and Joshua Harrington
IN NEW YORK:
Lily Clayton—freed slave; John Duvoisin’s former housekeeper at Freedom.
Rose Forrester—Lily’s sister; freed slave; former housekeeper at Wisteria Hill.
Dr. Hastings—John’s friend; uncle to Dr. Adam Hastings
SHIPS’ CAPTAINS:
Jonah Wilkinson—Captain of the Raven
Philip Conklin—Captain of the Tempest
Will Jones—Captain of the Heir
Matt Williams—Captain of the Destiny
IN MEMORY:
Adele Delacroix—Colette’s mother (deceased)
Pierre Delacroix—Colette’s brother (deceased)
Pascale—Colette’s childhood girlfriend
Thomas Ward—Agatha’s first husband
By DeVa Gantt
FOREVER WAITING
DE
CISION AND DESTINY
A SILENT OCEAN AWAY
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
FOREVER WAITING. Copyright © 2009 by DeVa Gantt. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST AVON PAPERBACK EDITION PUBLISHED 2009.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gantt, DeVa.
Forever waiting : Colette’s appeal / DeVa Gantt.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-06-157826-7
1. Aristocracy (Social class)—Fiction. 2. Virginia—History—19th century—Fiction. 3. Domestic fiction. I. Title.
PS3607 A59F67 2009
813'.6—dc22
2009012885
EPub Edition © 2009 ISBN:9780061959431
09 10 11 12 13
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