Chapters (57)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- POPULAR BOOKS FROM THE ERA
- When We Meet Again
- A Conversation with Caroline Beecham about When We Meet Again
- Discussion Guide
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next onyour reading list?
“It means there’s little chance of us, or many publishers, for that matter, printing illustrated books until the war ends. Especially ones like Women and Children First with screened half-tone photographs.”
“We can use line blocks,” Ursula said.
“Or we could just have a cover,” Alice suggested, looking more animated. “We don’t need pictures inside, we could make do.”
“We can afford a four-page spread inside,” said Tommy, “but it would only be for this title. It’s all a trade-off. Is it a sacrifice we’re prepared to make?”
“It’s one book,” Ursula said, holding his gaze.
Theo was watching them thoughtfully, keeping his opinion to himself.
“She’s right,” George said, “it’s one book. But each book deprives the war effort of metal. We have to decide if that one book is really worth it.” He turned to Alice. “I’ve looked through your proposal and given it a great deal of thought. And we’ve talked about it,” he added, glancing at Theo. “We think it’s worth it. Don’t we, Theo?”
“Indeed, we do, George. It’s going to be the major release in the new season titles—if we can get it ready by then.”
He’d expected Alice to be more excited by the news, but her smile was fleeting before she grew thoughtful again.
“So, Alice, will it be written in time?” Theo asked as he leaned back in his chair, cradling a cup of coffee between his palms.
“Yes,” she said firmly, “but are you going to be able to pull everything else together in time?”
“You couldn’t be in better hands, Alice,” George said. “Theo has learned a great deal from the Armed Services Editions. They’re in production now.”
“That’s right,” Theo said, “they’ll be shipped to the troops in September. And it hasn’t been easy. Our skeptics said the paper was such poor quality it would fall apart, and that the glue would never hold when it got to the tropics, but we adjusted the prototypes.”
“What did you do?” Ursula asked.
“We’ve used staples, and the paper is twice the quality of that used for newspapers. Everything is designed to make them withstand the harshest conditions, so they can be read and shared by the men again and again.” Theo leaned in, resting his arms on the table. “If we want this series to become collectible, the paperbacks need to be able to withstand the same handling and conditions as hardbacks. Right, George?”