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DEAR EDWARD

by Ann Napolitano ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 14, 2020

Well-written and insightful but so heartbreaking that it raises the question of what a reader is looking for in fiction.

A 12-year-old boy is the sole survivor of a plane crash—a study in before and after.

Edward Adler is moving to California with his adored older brother, Jordan, and their parents: Mom is a scriptwriter for television, Dad is a mathematician who is home schooling his sons. They will get no further than Colorado, where the plane goes down. Napolitano’s ( A Good Hard Look , 2011, etc.) novel twins the narrative of the flight from takeoff to impact with the story of Edward’s life over the next six years. Taken in by his mother’s sister and her husband, a childless couple in New Jersey, Edward’s misery is constant and almost impermeable. Unable to bear sleeping in the never-used nursery his aunt and uncle have hastily appointed to serve as his bedroom, he ends up bunking next door, where there's a kid his age, a girl named Shay. This friendship becomes the single strand connecting him to the world of the living. Meanwhile, in alternating chapters, we meet all the doomed airplane passengers, explore their backstories, and learn about their hopes and plans, every single one of which is minutes from obliteration. For some readers, Napolitano’s premise will be too dark to bear, underlining our terrible vulnerability to random events and our inability to protect ourselves or our children from the worst-case scenario while also imagining in exhaustive detail the bleak experience of survival. The people around Edward have no idea how to deal with him; his aunt and uncle try their best to protect him from the horrors of his instant celebrity as Miracle Boy. As one might expect, there is a ray of light for Edward at the end of the tunnel, and for hardier readers this will make Napolitano’s novel a story of hope.

Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9848-5478-0

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019

LITERARY FICTION | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP

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THE NIGHTINGALE

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 3, 2015

Still, a respectful and absorbing page-turner.

Hannah’s new novel is an homage to the extraordinary courage and endurance of Frenchwomen during World War II.

In 1995, an elderly unnamed widow is moving into an Oregon nursing home on the urging of her controlling son, Julien, a surgeon. This trajectory is interrupted when she receives an invitation to return to France to attend a ceremony honoring  passeurs : people who aided the escape of others during the war. Cut to spring, 1940: Viann has said goodbye to husband Antoine, who's off to hold the Maginot line against invading Germans. She returns to tending her small farm, Le Jardin, in the Loire Valley, teaching at the local school and coping with daughter Sophie’s adolescent rebellion. Soon, that world is upended: The Germans march into Paris and refugees flee south, overrunning Viann’s land. Her long-estranged younger sister, Isabelle, who has been kicked out of multiple convent schools, is sent to Le Jardin by Julien, their father in Paris, a drunken, decidedly unpaternal Great War veteran. As the depredations increase in the occupied zone—food rationing, systematic looting, and the billeting of a German officer, Capt. Beck, at Le Jardin—Isabelle’s outspokenness is a liability. She joins the Resistance, volunteering for dangerous duty: shepherding downed Allied airmen across the  Pyrenees to Spain. Code-named the Nightingale, Isabelle will rescue many before she's captured. Meanwhile, Viann’s journey from passive to active resistance is less dramatic but no less wrenching. Hannah vividly demonstrates how the Nazis, through starvation, intimidation and barbarity both casual and calculated, demoralized the French, engineering a community collapse that enabled the deportations and deaths of more than 70,000 Jews. Hannah’s proven storytelling skills are ideally suited to depicting such cataclysmic events, but her tendency to sentimentalize undermines the gravitas of this tale.

Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-312-57722-3

Page Count: 448

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014

HISTORICAL FICTION | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP

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by Kristin Hannah

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THE LAST LETTER

by Rebecca Yarros ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 26, 2019

A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.

A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.

Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ ( Wilder , 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.

Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Entangled: Amara

Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

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by Rebecca Yarros

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Review: Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

This post contains links to products that I may receive compensation from at no additional cost to you. View my Affiliate Disclosure page here .

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano is a beautifully written story about a boy working to overcome the unimaginable. 

I’ve taken so many flights that go from Phoenix to the East Coast that are uneventful but just long and boring. There’s always a brief moment of ‘what happens if something goes wrong’ that runs through my head but for the most part, I feel safe flying. 

So when I first read the synopsis of Dear Edward and that it involved a plane crash, I hesitated. Sometimes stories really get to me and I didn’t know if I could handle reading that. But then, I thought about it—a majority of the public travels and SO many people love this book. There has to be more to this story than just documenting pure terror. And there really is. I’m so glad I finally picked this book up. It’s raw, emotional but so full of heart and hope. 

This is a heavy story but it’s crafted so well. I truly feel that if the story was handled by a less skilled writer, it would have been too much. But the author Ann Napolitano expertly weaves a story about grief while at the same time, serving as a coming-of-age tale. This is a great one for book clubs . 

The synopsis: 

One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them are a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured veteran returning from Afghanistan, a business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. Halfway across the country, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor.

Edward’s story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a part of himself has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery—one that will lead him to the answers of some of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do you find the strength to put one foot in front of the other? How do you learn to feel safe again? How do you find meaning in your life?

Alternating sections 

The story switches from the real time of the plane ride and its eventual crash to Edward’s existence after surviving the crash. In the present time storyline, we follow Edward the entire time. But in the plane section, it features all kinds of passengers including Edward’s family, a Wall Street guy, a veteran and more. We learn all about their lives leading up to this fateful plane ride. It’s difficult to read how much they planned for the future.

This truly is a quiet story about unassuming people. The only criticism I have of the plane section is there is a focus on this wealthy elderly man; I just wasn’t engaged with his storyline at all. But the rest of the passengers, I found fascinating and very realistic. I kept thinking to myself that I’ve sat by versions of the people she describes on countless flights. It was very eerie at times to read it. 

Edward’s story

But in the end, this is a story about Edward and what it means to survive. He’s such a great kid— you will root for him every step of the way. After the accident, he moves in with his aunt and uncle. But no one feels comfortable as they’re all still grieving in their one way. He finds solace in the form of his next door neighbor Shay, a quirky girl with a heart of gold. I loved their dynamic and relationship. It’s one of the strongest parts of the novel. 

How do you pick up the pieces after experiencing a horrific tragedy? A tragedy that also makes Edward famous where people both want something from him and treat him differently. Edward tries to find healing but it won’t come easy. Especially when the expectations for all the deceased passengers suddenly lies on his shoulders. 

BTW, you’ll find out why the book is called Dear Edward . There’s definitely more to the story there. 

I know the subject is quite sad but I really encourage you all to give this book a try. Yes, it’s difficult but Edward’s journey is fascinating and even a bit inspiring. 

Click here to buy the book on Amazon. Check out my book club questions here .

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Dear Edward

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One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them is a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured vet returning from Afghanistan, a septuagenarian business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. And then, halfway across the country, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor.

Edward’s story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place for himself in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a piece of him has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery–one that will lead him to the answers of some of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do you find yourself? How do you discover your purpose? What does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?

Dear Edward is at once a transcendent coming-of-age story, a multidimensional portrait of an unforgettable cast of characters, and a breathtaking illustration of all the ways a broken heart learns to love again.

• Dear Edward debuted at #2 on The New York Times bestseller list!
• The novel is an Editor’s Choice in The New York Times Book Review.
• Dear Edward chosen as the January 2020 Today Show #ReadwithJenna book club pick.
• The Barnes & Noble Book Club selected Dear Edward as their January 2020 book.
• Books-A-Million selected Dear Edward as their 2020 President’s Pick .
• Dear Edward chosen as a December 2019 Book of the Month.
• Dear Edward chosen as a January 2020 Indie Next Pick .
• Library Reads selected Dear Edward as their number one pick of January 2020 books .
• An Amazon Best Book of the Month for January 2020.

Author’s Note

I never thought I would write a novel about a plane crash. I’m a nervous flyer, and fictionally I’ve always gravitated more toward family drama than novels filled with crashes and explosions. But in 2010, I became obsessed with a news story about a nine-year-old Dutch boy who was the sole survivor of the crash of Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771. I couldn’t stop thinking about this child who lost everything—his parents, his brother, his entire world—in one sweeping moment. My own sons were one and three years old at the time, and I needed to believe that if they ever had to endure such a loss, they would somehow be able to go on. I wanted to think that they could go to school, make new friends, fall in love. That need to believe in a path forward after unimaginable tragedy drove me to write one for my fictional Edward.

When I started writing, I realized that Edward’s story couldn’t include just what happened to him after the crash; it also had to describe what happened in the air. The plane journey was integral to Edward, and those hours in the sky would forever remain as real to him as his new life. I decided to set the plane chapters side-by-side with those depicting the years that followed. That meant writing in detail about the crash itself. It was important to me to portray those scenes accurately, so I did extensive research to understand the factors involved in a crash: I spoke to a retired pilot, studied National Transportation Safety Board reports, and read real black box transcripts. The mechanics of what happens to the fictional flight in Dear Edward are based largely on a real crash, that of Air France Flight 447, about which I found the work of journalist Jeff Wise to be vital. (I’m grateful to Jeff and to Hearst for giving me permission to incorporate his reporting into my novel.) And some of the cockpit dialogue in Dear Edward is drawn from the true black box recording of Flight 447.

My intention was to accurately and respectfully portray the human experience of such an event, both what happens in the moment and what follows for the people left behind. I hope I have honored the real people who have inspired my fictional work: Ruben van Assouw, Pierre-Cedric Bonin, Marc Dubois, David Robert, and all the passengers aboard Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 and Air France Flight 447. The more I learned about these flights, the more my compassion for the passengers, the crew, and their loved ones grew. I hope that compassion is reflected in the story of the fictional flight 2977.

I started writing Dear Edward in an effort to discover how someone “in this case, a young boy”can learn not just to survive, but to truly live. It took me eight years to write this story. In that time, I found that the empathy of others is essential in clearing a path through grief. I hope readers of Dear Edward discover similar wells of kindness in their own lives.

–Ann Napolitano, 2019

Praise for Dear Edward

“Napolitano’s fearless examination of what took place models a way forward for all of us. She takes care not to sensationalize, presenting even the most harrowing scenes in graceful, understated prose, and gives us a powerful book about living a meaningful life during the most difficult of times.” — The New York Times

“ Dear Edward is such an optimistic diversion that you might not even notice how important and finely made it is. Never soppy, the novel provides pitch-perfect understanding of human vulnerabilities. When you’re reading, you’re deep in the pleasure of good storytelling, but when you’re done, you know that you’ve experienced a brush with literary virtuosity.” — Newsday

“Exquisite . . . an insightful and moving testament to the indomitability of the human spirit.” — People

“A delicate story of one boy’s physical and psychological recovery . . . Napolitano captures the subtle shades of Edward’s spirit like the earliest intimations of dawn. . . . Persistently lovely . . . one of the most touching stories you’re likely to read in the new year.” — The Washington Post

“With its expert pacing and picture-perfect final page, Dear Edward is a wondrous read. It is a skillful and satisfying examination of not only what it means to survive, but of what it means to truly live.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Stunning . . . In  this life affirming tale, the downright unbearable blossoms into a testament to the power of love and grace.” — Vogue

“It’s hard for a novel to thoroughly capture a reader’s attention while simultaneously meditating on profoundly complex issues. In Dear Edward , Napolitano manages to achieve this. The delicate sparseness of her prose slowly peels back the layers to reveal a warm, fulfilling center that is a true reward for readers.” — BookPage

“Dear Edward is that rare book that breaks your heart and stitches it back together during a reading experience that leaves you profoundly altered for the better. It’s about the infinitesimal difference between being a victim and being a survivor, between living and being alive. Don’t miss this one.” — Jodi Picoult, NYT bestselling author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light

“From the first page of this heartwarming and heart-wrenching novel, I was dazzled. Napolitano weaves a story that brims with humanity–with joy and sorrow, love and friendship, survival and triumph, and a cast of unforgettable characters. Dear Edward is a masterpiece that should be at the top of everyone’s reading list.” — J. Courtney Sullivan, bestselling author of Saints for All Occasions

“ Dear Edward isn’t just a beautiful novel, clear-eyed and compassionate even as it pulls us into difficult terrain. It’s an examination of what makes us human, how we survive in this mysterious world, how we take care of each other. It’s the kind of book that forces you to trust that the author, who will break your heart, will also lead you toward something wondrous, something profound. After this brilliant novel, I will follow Ann Napolitano to the ends of the earth.” — Kevin Wilson, author of  Nothing to See Here

“Outstanding, beautifully written, a compulsive read. Dear Edward is the best book about a young person I’ve read since Emma Donoghue’s Room .” — John Boyne, bestselling author of A Ladder to the Sky and The Heart’s Invisible Furies

“Ann Napolitano’s writing is astonishing. I’m in awe.” — Marian Keyes, bestselling author of The Break and The Brightest Star in the Sky

“I loved  Dear Edward  so, so much. It made me laugh and weep. So many times I had to stop after reading a paragraph to acknowledge the beauty of Ann Napolitano’s writing. In Edward, his friend Shay, and the passengers on the airplane, Napolitano offers unforgettable characters, people you know you will miss after you’ve turned the book’s last page. Magnificent!” —Lily King, author of Euphoria

“From its breathtaking premise—a boy is the sole survivor of an airplane crash—to its absolutely rhapsodic finish,  Dear Edward is about the persistence of hope, the depth of love, and the unexpected, radiant moments that make up our lives. If I loved this stunning novel any more, I’d have to marry it.” — Caroline Leavitt,  New York Times  bestselling author of  Pictures of You  and  Cruel Beautiful World

“This is a stunning novel of courage and connection in the face of unimaginable loss. It’s beautifully written, with characters so intensely alive you will hold your breath as they break your heart—an extraordinary read.” — Helen Simonson, author of  Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

“Gripping and elegaic, this is a captivating novel about loss, love and growing up.” — Rosamund Lupton, bestselling author of Sister

“Weaving past and present into a profoundly beautiful, page-turning story of mystery, loss, and wonder,  Dear Edward is a meditation on survival, but more important, it is about carving a life worth living. It is about love and hope and caring for others, and all the transitory moments that bind us together.” — Hannah Tinti, author of  The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley   and  The Good Thief

“Eddie is an ordinary twelve-year-old, until a horrific plane crash turns him into the real-life Boy Who Lived. Ann Napolitano brings clear-eyed compassion to every character in Dear Edward , from Edward himself, caught between living and merely surviving, to his fellow passengers, who don’t have that choice. The result is a rich, big-hearted tapestry that leaves no one behind. Fans of Room and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close will be spellbound by Dear Edward , which explores trauma with the same honesty and tenderness as it does the crooked path to healing.” — Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists

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For Ann Napolitano, the Third Time’s the Charm

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By Elisabeth Egan

• Feb. 6, 2020

YOURS SINCERELY To hear Ann Napolitano talk — at a pre-publication lunch, at an event to celebrate the relaunch of Dial Press, on the “ Today ” show — is to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she did not write her third novel, “ Dear Edward ,” with any victory lap in mind. It’s not that she’s a fish out of water behind a podium or on a white couch in a television studio; in fact, Napolitano commands attention in a quietly mesmerizing way, like the veteran teacher she is. She’s a writer’s writer, which is like being a long-distance runner. Sure, she’ll show up for the marathon — this time she crossed the finish line with great fanfare, giving “Dear Edward” its monthlong run (and counting) on the best-seller list — but clearly she’s fueled by daily neighborhood runs. In other words: putting words on the page.

“I wrote on the subway, in my parked car and when my kids were in school,” she says. “This book was a complete joy to write.”

“Dear Edward” tells the story of a 12-year-old boy who survives a plane crash that kills his family. Napolitano explains, “In 2010, a flight from South Africa to London crashed in Libya. There was one survivor: a 9-year-old Dutch boy who was found half a mile away from the wreckage, still buckled into his seat. He had a punctured lung and a broken leg, but otherwise he was fine. Everyone else on the plane died immediately, including his brother and his parents. This story just flayed me. I could not imagine how the boy would be O.K.— and I could feel from the stickiness of my obsession that I was going to have to write a book that created a set of circumstances to make him O.K.” The result is a surprisingly uplifting story, full of hope and dry humor, with an underlying, noncloying message about the decency of strangers.

Napolitano has long advised her writing students to pay attention to ideas that stick, seemingly at random, on what she thinks of as their invisible magnet boards. In her mind, everyone has one: “Your magnet board is calibrated differently from your sister’s or your best friend’s, and that’s because of your DNA, your personal history, all the things that go into making you who you are. Your subjects could come from a headline or some weird documentary no one else wanted to watch. Our world is so noisy, and we’re inundated with so much information, that if you’re not paying attention to what thwacks against your magnet board, you’re going to miss the obsession that makes you uncomfortable. We have to let ourselves follow that pull.”

Elisabeth Egan is an editor at the Book Review and the author of “A Window Opens.”

Follow New York Times Books on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram , s ign up for our newsletter or our literary calendar . And listen to us on the Book Review podcast .

Book review: Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

Dear Edward has two timelines: one follows Edward after the crash, and the other a number of passengers, including the Adler family, from their arrival at the airport to the moment of their death.

I found the story of the plane and its passengers the more interesting of the two. There is, of course, the mystery of why the plane crashes, which is not revealed until near the end of the novel. Even without a crash though, the setting is inherently dramatic, people of different backgrounds confined in one small space, forced to rub up against each other (sometimes literally).

The people on the flight are all preoccupied with events in their lives, the turning points that led them to be on that particular plane at that particular time, and there is a poignancy to knowing that all their thoughts and hopes and fears will come to nothing.

The story of Edward in the aftermath of the crash is moving: the difficulty he faces being in the public eye, the shock for his aunt and uncle who suddenly find themselves caring for someone in great need at a time when they have issues of their own. However, the difficulty from a storytelling point of view is that the drama of the story is at the beginning. Recovery involves life becoming less about highs and lows, more about embracing the ordinary.

As the years move on, Edward tries to re-establish his sense of identity and find his purpose. The story can veer towards the saccharine at times. Edward is surrounded by a series of benign figures who are all, in different ways, trying to help him, and aside from one hiccup in his relationship with his closest friend, Shay, they seem unstinting in their desire to heal Edward and to negate their own desires.

It’s as if they have obediently accepted their role in life as secondary characters, though to be fair, this may in part be because the story is told from Edward’s point of view. (Shay does chide him at one point for his lack of interest in other people’s problems.)

I also felt that the purpose Edward stumbles on was a little unconvincing and out of step with the themes of the story. It takes his grief and makes something uplifting of it, but I think a bit more grit and ambiguity would have made for a more convincing ending.

There are moments of great emotion, beautifully written. You understand the terrible sense of loss Edward feels, the helplessness of the adults around him, the sense of being alienated from his own body and his own life. The narrative also subtly echoes Edward’s past life in the present, both in what is there and what is lost. For me, though, it is those other stories, of the people who died, whose conflict never had a resolution, which are more moving.

I received a copy of Dear Edward from the publisher via Netgalley. View Dear Edward on Goodreads

Enjoyed this? This book shares some themes with Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane (though I think this is the better book).

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Published by Kate Vane

I write crime and literary fiction and share reviews and bookish thoughts on my blog. View all posts by Kate Vane

How curious! I do like the idea of the dual timeline and the variety of narrative voices. Somewhere else, recently, I’ve come across a bit from this author – maybe one of the BBC bookshows or an article online – and I’m becoming more and more intrigued.

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Book Review: 'Dear Edward' Inspires You To Make The Most Of Life Despite Challenges

Ann Napolitano’s new novel opens with a transcontinental flight from New York to Los Angeles. Among the passengers boarding the plane are 12-year-old Edward Adler, his parents and older brother. We learn quickly that this particular flight doesn’t have a happy ending — the plane crashes near Denver, killing almost everyone aboard. Only Eddie survives.

“Dear Edward” is inspired by a true story, in which a 9-year-old boy was the sole survivor of a flight to London from South Africa in 2010. Napolitano has said in interviews that she became almost obsessed with that tragedy, using it as the premise of this novel, which explores some of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do you go on? How do you find meaning, inspiration and hope? How do you feel safe? How do you learn to love again?

The novel alternates between scenes of the flight and Edward’s journey in its aftermath. Onboard the plane, we meet an intriguing cast of characters, including an injured veteran, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, a sexy flight attendant, a wealthy older man battling cancer, and a woman who’s convinced she’s been reincarnated and will be again. Edward’s family is front and center — although his mother sits alone in first class — and we get a sense for the subtle challenges that pepper their daily lives.

“Dear Edward” also speaks to the bizarre, sudden fame that comes with being a newsmaker — a Miracle Boy, a Sole Survivor — in the age of social media. Edward and his friend discover sacks full of letters addressed to him from relatives of victims who crave some connection or closure. They want him to become a violinist, to go whale watching, to walk the Great Wall of China. Edward’s path from devastation to hope seems appropriately winding, and the novel ultimately leaves you inspired to make the most of life despite its challenges.

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Book summary and reviews of Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

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Dear Edward

by Ann Napolitano

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• Genre: Literary Fiction
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About this book

Book summary.

A twelve-year-old boy struggles with the worst kind of fame - as the sole survivor of a notorious plane crash - in a heart-wrenching and life-affirming novel for readers of Small Great Things , Little Fires Everywhere, and The Immortalists .

What does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?  One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them are a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured vet returning from Afghanistan, a business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. Halfway across the country, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor. Edward's story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place for himself in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a piece of him has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery—one that will lead him to the answers of some of life's most profound questions: When you've lost everything, how do find yourself? How do you discover your purpose?  Dear Edward is at once a transcendent coming-of-age story, a multidimensional portrait of an unforgettable cast of characters, and a breathtaking illustration of all the ways a broken heart learns to love again.

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Media Reviews

Reader reviews.

"With its expert pacing and picture-perfect final page, Dear Edward is a wondrous read. It is a skillful and satisfying examination of not only what it means to survive, but of what it means to truly live." - Booklist (starred review) "Edward's intolerable losses and his eventual brave recovery is at first melancholy, but by the end, readers will feel a comforting sense of solace. Napolitano's depiction of the nuances of post-trauma experiences is fearless, compassionate, and insightful." - Publishers Weekly "As one might expect, there is a ray of light for Edward at the end of the tunnel, and for hardier readers this will make Napolitano's novel a story of hope. Well-written and insightful but so heartbreaking that it raises the question of what a reader is looking for in fiction." - Kirkus Reviews "Edward's father used mathematics to 'tie together pieces of the universe'; Ann Napolitano uses words to do the same in Dear Edward—a dazzling, tender novel about sorrow and despair, resilience and great love." - Shelf Awareness "Penetrating...What makes this narrative so effective is its alternating between the ordinary events unfolding on the flight and the aftermath of the crash...[A] vivid story of one boy's coming of age redirected by tragedy." - Library Journal "Ann Napolitano's new novel is the best book about a young person I've read since Emma Donoghue's Room , and if there's any justice in the world, it's going to be a phenomenon: outstanding storytelling, great writing, absolutely The Real Deal." - John Boyne, bestselling author of The Heart's Invisible Furies "From its breathtaking premise—a boy is the sole survivor of an airplane crash—to its absolutely rhapsodic finish, Dear Edward is about the persistence of hope, the depth of love, and the unexpected, radiant moments that make up our lives. If I loved this stunning novel any more, I'd have to marry it." - Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Cruel Beautiful World "From the first page of this heartwarming and heart-wrenching novel, I was dazzled. Napolitano weaves a story that brims with humanity—with joy and sorrow, love and friendship, survival and triumph, and a cast of unforgettable characters. Dear Edward is a masterpiece that should be at the top of everyone's reading list." - J. Courtney Sullivan, bestselling author of Saints for All Occasions

Author Information

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Ann Napolitano Author Biography

Photo: Nicola Dove

Ann Napolitano is the author of Dear Edward , which was an instant New York Times bestseller, a Read with Jenna selection, and is now an Apple TV+ series. She is also the author of the novels A Good Hard Look and Within Arm's Reach . For seven years, Napolitano was the associate editor of the literary magazine One Story , and she received an MFA from New York University. She has taught fiction writing at Brooklyn College's MFA program, New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and Gotham Writers Workshop.

Author Interview Link to Ann Napolitano's Website

Name Pronunciation Ann Napolitano: na-poll-ih-TAH-no (first syllable like 'ap' in apple)

Other books by Ann Napolitano at BookBrowse

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Review: Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

Dear Edward gave me sooo many feels. All the feels. I wondered when I started it why it seemed like so much is given away in the summary (the plane crash), but I soon saw that this book is SO much more than a crash.

The Plot Summary

One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them is a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured vet returning from Afghanistan, a septuagenarian business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. And then, tragically, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor.

Edward’s story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place for himself in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a piece of him has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery–one that will lead him to the answers of some of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do find yourself? How do you discover your purpose? What does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?

Dear Edward is at once a transcendent coming-of-age story, a multidimensional portrait of an unforgettable cast of characters, and a breathtaking illustration of all the ways a broken heart learns to love again.

First of all, I’m a total sucker for coming-of-age stories – even the super character-driven ones (hello A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ). I’m just so drawn in by the struggles the characters are going through, trying to figure out life and the world and their place in it.

In Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano , Edward is not only going through the regular struggles of adolescence, but he’s also deep in grief over the loss of his family, plus an entire plane full of other people. Sound heavy? Well, it is, but it’s so beautiful and well done that it really doesn’t feel so heavy while you’re reading it.

This book has dual timelines. One is Edward’s life after the crash, and the other begins with Edward and his family boarding the plane, and ends with the crash. That part of the story certainly felt like speeding toward doom, since you know what happens, but it’s a much-needed glimpse into Edward’s life pre-crash, along with the lives of the other characters you meet and get to know during the flight.

The portrayal of grief in this book is just stunning. If you’ve lost something or someone dear to you and understand grief on a deep level, you’ll love how Napolitano handles it: the muddling together of Edward’s first months, the difficulty with life’s most basic tasks, and the ah-ha moments of life after loss.

I absolutely loved this book and am now recommending it to pretty much everyone. 5 stars.

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It sounds like my kind of book. I love to read this kind of intense fiction with unusual plot. Added to my TBR

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Book Reviews

'kingdomtide' and 'dear edward': 2 new novels take on a singular situation.

Heller McAlpin

Dear Edward

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If the chances of dying in a plane crash are pretty slim, being the sole survivor is even less likely. Slighter still, one would think, are the chances that two American novels published in the same month would feature sole plane crash survivors — but that's what we have here.

Make sure you have tissues handy when you read Ann Napolitano's Dear Edward, a sure-footed tearjerker about the miraculous — but troubled — survival of a 12-year-old boy in a crash that kills all of the other 191 people on board a jet bound from Newark to Los Angeles, including his parents and older brother.

In Kingdomtide, Rye Curtis' stirring debut, the survivor is a 72-year-old woman who miraculously walks away from the wreckage of a small plane in Montana's Bitterroot National Forest, leaving the mangled bodies of the pilot and her husband of 54 years, whose corpse is suspended in a tree down a treacherous cliff. Perhaps even more amazing, she lives another 20 years to tell the heart-pounding tale of how she made it out of the woods.

Both novels are about the aftermath of trauma and how survival against the odds profoundly changes these characters' lives and attitudes. Both protagonists prevail thanks to support from unexpected sources, and in both books, kindness helps steer heartbreaking tales in heartwarming directions. Of the two, Dear Edward is more moving, but Kingdomtide, although less even, is more riveting and surprising.

Napolitano, whose most recent novel, A Good Hard Look (2011), fictionalized Flannery O'Connor's last years, has assembled a well-oiled literary machine capable of conveying a panoply of humanity. With each chapter headed by a time stamp, the narrative of Dear Edward interweaves two tracks: a detailed account of the hours leading up to the June 12th, 2013 crash of Flight 2977, and its aftermath, charting Edward's long path to healing against a backdrop of unwanted celebrity.

The flight portion of our entertainment includes painstaking descriptions of security procedures, boarding, pre-flight instructions, drinks, meals, and much more of the tedious minutiae of air travel. These routine details are clearly intended to ratchet up the sense of impending doom (although we've already learned of the crash early in the book) and to underscore how calamity can upend mundanity in a flash. But they also make Flight 2977 feel at times excruciatingly long for a coast-to-coast trip — and not always airborne even before the crash.

In order to highlight what is lost in the disastrous accident, Napolitano presents capsule portraits of some of the passengers who go down with the Airbus A321. She has rounded up a deliberate cross-section of Americans, and her omniscient third person narrator switches perspectives between them with the alacrity of a restless passenger clicking through in-flight movie options. Among them are an ailing, cantankerous, wheelchair-bound billionaire and his nurse; an injured, sexually conflicted black soldier who is leaving the army with a lot more baggage than his colostomy bag; a Wall Street wunderkind fueled by cocaine who gets off with the sexy first class flight attendant in an aft bathroom; and Edward's mother, who's seated up front in first class in order to work on a screenplay for the new job that's driving her family's move to California. Her husband, a mathematician recently denied tenure at Columbia, sits in steerage with Eddie (as he's called before his second life) and his adolescent brother.

Dear Edward is in part a tale of survivor guilt, which is fueled by the weight of oppressive, often bizarre expectations on the miracle boy, especially from the families of victims who want him to fulfill their loved ones' dreams and plans. "Stop expecting me to have hidden powers, okay? I'm not a freaking wizard," he explodes at one point. It takes Edward years to learn to live with the aftershocks of the tragedy and absorb the liberating fact that, far from being chosen for a special purpose, his survival was just "dumb luck."

Kingdomtide

Rye Curtis' 72-year-old retired grade school teacher and librarian, a devout Methodist from small town Texas, is too busy trying to stay alive in the savage Bitterroot Mountains to feel much survivor guilt. Kingdomtide — part intense adventure story, part morality tale — is narrated by clear-eyed, refreshingly direct 92-year-old Cloris Waldrip from the assisted living facility in Brattleboro, Vt., where she's living out her last years. As she notes, "A tale belongs to whoever tells it best," and this one's hers. The novel's title is tied to the August 31, 1986 crash date, which fell on the first Sunday of Kingdomtide — an obsolete liturgical season of charity that spanned 13 or 14 Sundays between Pentecost and Advent.

Like Dear Edward, Kingdomtide braids two narrative strands that cut like intersecting streams through the valley of this novel, but Cloris' survival story flows with more force than the chapters featuring the forest ranger who refuses to abandon the search for her. Merlot-sotted, bitterly divorced, foul-mouthed Debra Lewis — along with her crew of brokenhearted misfits – truck and trek and drink and spar their way through the rough terrain, picking up occasional signs of life in dual manhunts for Cloris and a suspected child molester who's wanted by the FBI for the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl. These chapters present a study in profound loneliness, but they cannot compete with the novel's central adventure.

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One of Kingdomtide's concerns is with the vagaries of desire, and Curtis doesn't stint on sometimes wince-inducing details that are not for the fastidious: Weird sex in a hot-tub from which a dead skunk has just been tossed; a cross-dresser who dons a bear costume to chase partying teens off his property; a hermit whose wrists are braceleted with the waistbands of girls' underwear; and a crazed local trailer-dweller, "Goddamn Silk Foot Maggie," who fashions sculptures out of garbage, cat skeletons, and "used tampons for earrings," all bound with electrical tape and melted candles.

The post-accident, newly open-minded Cloris comments, "I have come to believe that who or what we desire cannot be helped ... And I do not blame people for knowing what they want. I only blame them for doing anything and everything to get it without a thought to the consequences."

Curtis keeps us turning pages as Cloris confronts bobcats, hypothermia, starvation, icy inundation, and a strange mountain lion who walks backwards. "It is peculiar how the human spirit endures," she comments. "A person can get used to a situation, even if that situation may have once seemed intolerable."

Her remark applies to Napolitano's bereft boy as well. Predicated on cataclysmic, life-changing accidents, Dear Edward and Kingdomtide offer two transportative reads — and two different takes on the human ability to adapt in order to survive.

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Dear Edward: A Novel Paperback – February 2, 2021

• Print length 400 pages
• Language English
• Publication date February 2, 2021
• Dimensions 5.19 x 0.91 x 8 inches
• ISBN-10 1984854801
• ISBN-13 978-1984854803
• See all details

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House Publishing Group (February 2, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1984854801
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1984854803
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.19 x 0.91 x 8 inches
• #390 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
• #553 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction
• #1,090 in Literary Fiction (Books)

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About the author

Ann napolitano.

Ann Napolitano's new novel, Hello Beautiful, will be published on March 14th, 2023 by Dial Press in the US and on July 13th by Viking Penguin in the UK. Her novel, Dear Edward, was an instant New York Times bestseller, a Read with Jenna selection, and is now an Apple TV+ series starring Connie Britton. She is the author of the novels A Good Hard Look and Within Arm’s Reach. She was the Associate Editor of One Story literary magazine for seven years, and received an MFA from New York University. She has taught fiction writing for Brooklyn College's MFA program, New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies and for Gotham Writers' Workshop.

Dear Edward was published by Dial Press in the United States, and by Viking Penguin in the United Kingdom. It was chosen as one of the best novels of 2020 by The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Amazon, Real Simple, Fast Company, Parade, Woman's World and more. The novel currently has twenty-six international publishers. For more information about Ann or her books, please visit www.annnapolitano.com.

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 62% 27% 8% 2% 1% 62%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 62% 27% 8% 2% 1% 27%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 62% 27% 8% 2% 1% 8%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 62% 27% 8% 2% 1% 2%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 62% 27% 8% 2% 1% 1%

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Customers say

Customers find the writing style very well written and easy to understand. They also describe the storyline as wonderful, powerful, and worthwhile. Customers find that the characters are relatable. They describe the content as insightful, poignant, and powerful. Readers describe the emotional tone as emotional, humorous, and wonderful. However, some find the book boring and difficult to concentrate on. Opinions are mixed on the pace and ending, with some finding it fast and others slow.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the storyline wonderful, engaging, and worthwhile. They also say the book is well-written, powerful, and touching.

"...you seek a story rich in character development, immersive and evocative storytelling , and themes that linger long after the last page, then this..." Read more

"This book had it all, a great storyline , likable characters and food for thought...." Read more

"Beautiful story, beautifully written. Very emotional and touching retelling of a young boy and girl surmounting the worst possible circumstances to..." Read more

"...the pacing can seem slow, but there is something truly beautiful about her storytelling that grips me every time and I can’t put the story down...." Read more

Customers find the writing style great, poetic, convincing, and descriptive. They also say it's easy to understand how Eddie was feeling and the feelings of people who lost someone. Customers also mention that the book is smooth and progressive.

" Wonderfully written . Not a huge tear-jerker (like NPR says), but a few tears toward the end. Edward is SO strong." Read more

"...The contrasting writing styles add an emotional texture - crisp and suspenseful moments aboard the plane give way to a more introspective, at times..." Read more

"Beautiful story, beautifully written ...." Read more

"...story weaves effortlessly between two time periods, but it is not confusing at all and adds to the tension of the story...." Read more

Customers find the tone of the book emotional, with surprising small moments of great tenderness. They also appreciate the gentle, loving wisdom, and development. Readers mention that the book is painful to read at times, but they love the generosity and comedic lines.

"Ann Napolitano's "Dear Edward" is a haunting and heartrending exploration of trauma , grief, and the indomitable human spirit, prompting its readers..." Read more

"...Edward, there are some characters who are incredibly kind and supportive ...." Read more

"...I loved when he worked with his Principal and best of all I loved his generosity . I'm certain he grew up to be an amazing man...." Read more

Customers find the content enlightening, enjoyable, and inspiring. They also say the author did a great job keeping them involved. Readers also say that the book is fuller than the series, carrying just enough information to familiarize them with it. They mention that the relationships are powerful and the book offers the opportunity to consider scenarios and decisions we all face.

"...and heartrending exploration of trauma, grief, and the indomitable human spirit , prompting its readers to consider the purpose we create amidst life..." Read more

"This book had it all, a great storyline, likable characters and food for thought ...." Read more

"...A wonderfully told story that makes you appreciate life ." Read more

"...However, I did feel that this created interesting interactions and feelings that an adult would not have...." Read more

Customers find the characters relatable and the author a master of characterization.

"... Edward's characterization is exemplary ! Napolitano skillfully guides us through his overwhelming grief, numbness, and struggle with survivor's guilt...." Read more

"This book had it all, a great storyline, likable characters and food for thought...." Read more

"4.5 stars. Ann has a gift for character-driven stories ...." Read more

"...So powerful, human , touching…" Read more

Customers are mixed about the ending. Some find the story excellent, hopeful, and beautiful. They also say the author handled the crash beautifully. However, some customers are disappointed and find the ending too extreme.

"... Edward is SO strong ." Read more

"...nature of this story, I found myself feeling content and hopeful by its conclusion ...." Read more

"...skill of the writer, but because the subject was so deep and desperately sad . I will now have to read all her books" Read more

"Great story. Many human challenges with a happy ending ." Read more

Customers have mixed opinions about the pace of the book. Some find it fast and perfectly paced, while others say it drags at times.

"...Ann has a gift for character-driven stories. At points the pacing can seem slow , but there is something truly beautiful about her storytelling that..." Read more

"Excellent book! Fast moving " Read more

"...The story was emotionally gripping, perhaps a little slow at brief moments , but I found it to be a story to allow myself to read a little slowly and..." Read more

"In great condition and very quickly sent . THANKS" Read more

Customers find the writing detached, boring, and ordinary. They also say the book is not easy to read, making it hard to keep engaged.

"...This is not an easy book to read because all the characters are so finely drawn. Great literature serves as a window to the human condition...." Read more

"...I did enjoy it.It's just not a great read .And it could've been...." Read more

"...Loved the story, but so far not enjoying the series on Apple . So much detail is missing that it loses the best part of connecting the characters." Read more

"...That's sad but it doesn't make for exciting reading . Though I did enjoy the interspersing of the characters on the plane...." Read more

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