Thank you to my grandmother, Rose Greenbaum, née Genzuk, who gave me a sew-on-the-go kit that has turned out to be of great practical and imaginative use in my life. And to my mother, Ellen Solomon, who did in fact hang a sampler on the back of our bathroom door declaring A Well-Kept House Is a Sign of an Ill-Spent Life, and who was my first writing teacher.
Finally, thank you to Sylvie and Sam for asking tough questions. And to Mike, for cooking me breakfast and keeping me company.
ALSO BY ANNA SOLOMON
Leaving Lucy Pear
The Little Bride
Labor Day:
True Birth Stories by Today’s Best Women Writers
(coeditor)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ANNA SOLOMON is the author of Leaving Lucy Pear and The Little Bride and is a two-time winner of the Pushcart Prize. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in publications including the New York Times Magazine, One Story, Ploughshares, Slate, and more. Coeditor with Eleanor Henderson of Labor Day: True Birth Stories by Today’s Best Women Writers, Solomon was born and raised in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraphs
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Acknowledgments
Also by Anna Solomon
About the Author
Copyright
THE BOOK OF V. Copyright © 2020 by Anna Solomon. All rights reserved. For information, address Henry Holt and Co., 120 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10271.
www.henryholt.com
Cover design by Lynn Buckley
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Solomon, Anna, author.
Title: The book of V. / Anna Solomon.
Description: First edition. | New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2020.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019028705 | ISBN 9781250257017 (hardback) | ISBN 9781250257000 (ebk) | ISBN 9781250756459 (international)
Classification: LCC PS3619.O4329 B66 2020 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019028705
e-ISBN 9781250257000
First Edition: May 2020
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.