Before Ever After: A Novel

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Crown, May 29, 2012 - Fiction - 304 pages
"A smartly written romance, mystery and historical adventure all wrapped up in a page-turner that will have you guessing until the very end." – Adena Halpern, author of The Ten Best Days of My Life
 
Three years after her husband Max's death, Shelley feels no more adjusted to being a widow than she did that first terrible day. That is, until the doorbell rings. Standing on her front step is a young man who looks so much like Max--same smile, same eyes, same age, same adorable bump in his nose--he could be Max's long-lost relation. He introduces himself as Paolo, an Italian editor of American coffee table books, and shows Shelley some childhood photos. Paolo tells her that the man in the photos, the bearded man who Paolo says is his grandfather though he never seems to age, is Max. Her Max. And he is alive and well.
 
As outrageous as Paolo's claims seem--how could her husband be alive? And if he is, why hasn't he looked her up?--Shelley desperately wants to know the truth. She and Paolo jet across the globe to track Max down--if it is really Max. Along the way, Shelley recounts the European package tour where they had met. As she relives Max's stories of bloody Parisian barricades, medieval Austrian kitchens, and buried Roman boathouses, Shelley begins to piece together the story of who her husband was and what these new revelations mean for her "happily ever after." And as she and Paolo get closer to the truth, Shelley discovers that not all stories end where they are supposed to.
 

Selected pages

Contents

Section 1
1
Section 2
3
Section 3
7
Section 4
28
Section 5
49
Section 6
59
Section 7
69
Section 8
79
Section 17
194
Section 18
212
Section 19
221
Section 20
231
Section 21
242
Section 22
255
Section 23
259
Section 24
273

Section 9
106
Section 10
118
Section 11
130
Section 12
141
Section 13
148
Section 14
158
Section 15
173
Section 16
188
Section 25
281
Section 26
284
Section 27
287
Section 28
294
Section 29
295
Section 30
297
Copyright

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About the author (2012)

SAMANTHA SOTTO fell in love with Europe’s cobbled streets and damp castles when she moved to the Netherlands as a teenager.  Since then, she has spent nights huddled next to her backpack on a Greek beach, honeymooned in Paris, and attended business meetings in Dusseldorf in the pleasant company of a corporate credit card. Before Ever After was inspired by her experiences living, studying, and traveling through Europe. She is the author of Love and Gravity and Before Ever After.

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