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 © 2022 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Reading group guide copyright © 2022 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Di Maio, Camille, author.
Title: Until we meet / Camille Di Maio.
Description: First edition. | New York : Forever, 2022.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021041411 | ISBN 9781538738047 (trade paperback) |
ISBN 9781538738023 (ebook)
Subjects: LCGFT: Novels.
Classification: LCC PS3604.I1157 U58 2022 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021041411
ISBN: 9781538738047 (trade paperback), 9781538738023 (ebook)
E3-20211216-DA-PC-ORI
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Epilogue
Discover More
About the Author
Reading Group Guide Author Essay
Discussion Questions
To the group of ladies whose Zoom visits uplifted every moment of a wacky year with their spirit and prayers: Kathryn Haydn, Lori Helms, Anita Hertford, Catherine Liberto, Mary Clare Sabol, Karen Tompkins, and Regina Yitbarek
And to my aunt Melissa Wittman, who, from book one, has told everyone she’s ever met that her niece is an author. That kind of love and support is a treasure, as is she.
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Acknowledgments
I wrote this book from the small house we’d bought as not-too-far-off empty nesters, only to have coffee shops and libraries close down with the rest of the world. My adult children came home for the duration, and solitude became an endangered species.
So first, I am thankful to my family for allowing me the space and grace to sometimes be an impersonable writer as I cranked out word counts and met deadlines. I know you’re rejoicing as much as I am that my usual hangouts have reopened.
Thank you to my agent, Jill Marsal, who first visited with me about this story and for being an unparalleled guide in my writing.
I so appreciate my editor, Madeleine Colavita, whose collaboration and visits were essential in the creation of this story. Someday we will meet in person and swap embroidery-nerd stories. For now, photos.
To the ladies of Megunticook Market, especially Rachel Green and Jaci Russ, who sustained me through several writing pushes with their creations. And to the ladies of Buttery Baking House in Virginia, who pivoted and persevered in trying times and kept me well-stocked in pastries. My waistline does not thank you, but I do.
Thank you to Valerie Arthur, Susan Schlimme, Elise Metzger, and Joyce Hoggard, whose sidewalk happy hours and other socially distanced get-togethers were such sustaining highlights to me.
To Ashley Peebles. An instant forever friend. Thank you for your garage and most especially for your dependably positive outlook. Someday I’m going to write a Southern book and dedicate it to you.
Thank you to my aunt Cheryl Remmert, who gave me a place of respite for a generous amount of time this year. It was bliss.
Thank you to Rochelle Weinstein, who embodies every dear quality that a beloved friend should have. Becoming a writer was worth it just to have you brought into my life. Together with Lisa Barr, we are Dots, Duds, and Goober.
I cannot possibly thank all of the amazing Bookstagrammers and book world friends who show their love and support all the time. But to name a very few—the women of My Book Friends (join us on Facebook!)—Andrea Katz, Suzy Leopold, Marisa Gothie, Terry Pearson, Jen Sherman, Travel With a Book, Bookapotamus, Ann Marie Nieves, Wonder Woman Bookish, Zibby Owens, Dell Gray, Joy Jordan Lake, Eileen Moskowitz Palma, and Ken and Judy Rodriguez.
Finally—bookstores have had a tough couple of years and yet they are irreplaceable supporters of authors. I hope to give back just a little here by encouraging readers to shop brick and mortar and I want to give a shout-out to a few of my favorites: Owl and Turtle (Camden, Maine), Sundog Books (Seaside, Florida), Fountain Bookstore (Richmond, Virginia), Tattered Cover (Denver, Colorado), The Last Bookstore (Los Angeles, California), Bookish (Malakoff, Texas), The Twig (San Antonio, Texas), Shakespeare and Company (New York City), Book People (Austin, Texas), Parnassus (Nashville, Tennessee), Page 158 Books (Wake Forest, North Carolina), Politics and Prose (Washington, DC), Blue Willow Bookshop (Houston, Texas), and Battery Park Books (Asheville, North Carolina).
Chapter One
September 1943
Margaret Beck closed the door of her family’s narrow Brooklyn row house and rested her head against the wood. The black paint had peeled enough to reveal the whorl-like curves of its grain, and its faded color matched her mood. She slipped her hand into her coat pocket and pulled out the key, inserting it into the lock and turning it until it made the robust thunk that assured her that the safety lock had engaged. The sun had not yet appeared over the chimneyed rooftops, and her parents would not wake for another half hour.