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The Nature of Fragile Things

Susan Meissner
Contents ( 41)
  1. Novels by Susan Meissner
  2. Contents
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. Epilogue
  36. Acknowledgments
  37. Readers Guide
  38. The Nature of Fragile Things
  39. Discussion Questions
  40. About the Author
  41. What’s next on your reading list?
Cover for The Nature of Fragile Things

Novels by Susan Meissner

The Nature of Fragile Things

The Last Year of the War

As Bright as Heaven

A Bridge Across the Ocean

Stars over Sunset Boulevard

Secrets of a Charmed Life

A Fall of Marigolds

The Girl in the Glass

A Sound Among the Trees

Lady in Waiting

White Picket Fences

The Shape of Mercy

Book title, The Nature of Fragile Things, author, Susan Meissner, imprint, Berkley

BERKLEY

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

penguinrandomhouse.com

Copyright © 2021 by Susan Meissner

Readers Guide copyright © 2021 Penguin Random House LLC

Penguin Random House supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader.

BERKLEY and the BERKLEY & B colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Meissner, Susan, 1961- author.

Title: The nature of fragile things / Susan Meissner.

Description: First edition. | New York: Berkley, 2021.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020022072 (print) | LCCN 2020022073 (ebook) |

ISBN 9780451492180 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780451492203 (ebook)

Classification: LCC PS3613.E435 N38 2021 (print) | LCC PS3613.E435 (ebook) |

DDC 813/.6—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020022072

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020022073

Cover images: 1906 San Francisco earthquake © Everett Collection Inc./Alamy Stock Photo; figures © Tanya Gramatikova/Trevillion Images

Cover design by Emily Osborne and Colleen Reinhart

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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For Claire

Contents

Cover

Novels by Susan Meissner

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Epigraph

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Readers Guide

About the Author

Surely something resides in this heart that is not perishable—and life is more than a dream.

—Mary Wollstonecraft

1

INTERVIEW WITH MRS. SOPHIE HOCKING

CONDUCTED BY AMBROSE LOGAN, U.S. MARSHAL

CASE NUMBER 069308

Official transcript

San Francisco, CA

November 6, 1906

QUESTION: Thank you again for coming. Could you please state your full name, age, birth date, and the city where you were born, for the record, please?

ANSWER: Sophie Whalen Hocking. August 24, 1884. Donaghadee, County Down, Ireland. I’m twenty-two.

QUESTION: Whalen is your maiden name, correct?

ANSWER: It is.