Dear Mr. Knightley
ADVANCE ACCLAIM FOR
Dear Mr. Knightley
“Book nerds, rejoice!
Dear Mr. Knightley
is a stunning debut—a first-water gem with humor and heart. Using Samantha’s painfully forthright, often humorous, and increasingly vulnerable letters to her mysterious benefactor, author Katherine Reay invites readers into each moment of a young woman’s discovery that real heroes are fallible, falling in love isn’t always better in books, and literature is meant to enhance life—not to serve as a substitute for living. I can hardly wait to get my hands on the next novel by this gifted new author!”
—S
ERENA
C
HASE
,
USA T
ODAY
’
S
H
APPY
E
VER
A
FTER BLOG
“A heroine Jane Austen herself would be proud of!
Dear Mr. Knightly
is an emotional, haunting tale of hope and perseverance in the face of adversity. With depth and honesty, Katherine Reay’s debut novel will grip your heart in the very first pages and not let go.”
—S
ARAH
E. L
ADD
,
AWARD
-
WINNING HISTORICAL
NOVELIST
,
H
EIRESS OF
W
INTERWOOD
“Katherine Reay’s touching debut novel made me cry in all the right places. For joy.”
—L
AURIE
V
IERA
R
IGLER
,
AUTHOR OF
R
UDE
A
WAKENINGS OF A
J
ANE
A
USTEN
A
DDICT
“A lovely debut novel from Katherine Reay! A wonderful story told in letter form,
Dear Mr. Knightley
was easy to read (and love) and a delight the whole way through, with plenty of Austen and Bronte sprinkled throughout. This book is going on my keeper shelf!”
—A
USTENITIS
,
AUSTENITIS.BLOGSPOT.COM
“Reay’s debut novel,
Dear Mr. Knightley
, is a fun story told in a compelling voice that kept me up way too late. Highly recommended!”
—C
OLLEEN
C
OBLE
,
USA T
ODAY
BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF
R
OSEMARY
C
OTTAGE
AND THE
L
ONESTAR AND
M
ERCY
F
ALLS SERIES
“Sprinkled with classic literary references and filled with poignant characterizations, Katherine Reay’s modern retelling of Jean Webster’s
Daddy-Long-Legs
is both reverently crafted and delightfully surprising.”
—L
AUREL
A
NN
N
ATTRESS
, A
USTENPROSE.COM
© 2013 by Katherine Reay
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].
Quotation from THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER by C. S. Lewis © copyright C. S. Lewis Pte Ltd 1952. Used by permission.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version
®
, NIV
®
. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reay, Katherine, 1970–
Dear Mr. Knightley / Katherine Reay.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-4016-8968-1 (trade paper)
1. Women graduate students—Fiction. 2. Self-disclosure—Fiction. 3. Deception—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3618.E23D43 2013
813'.6—dc23
2013014963
Printed in the United States of America
13 14 15 16 17 18 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Matthew, Elizabeth, and Mary Margaret—for your unfailing love and support.
And to Mason—who gave me the idea in the first place.
(Much like Sam, the author couldn’t help herself—she “borrowed” this from the movie
Anne of Avonlea
. Books by L. M. Montgomery)
CONTENTS
Dear Sir,
It has been a year since I turned down your generous offer. Father John warned me at the time that I was making a terrible mistake, but I wouldn’t listen. He felt that by dismissing that opportunity I was injuring not only myself, but all the foster children helped by your foundation.
I hope any perceived ingratitude on my part didn’t harm anyone else’s dreams. I wasn’t ungrateful; I just wanted to leave Grace House. A group home is a difficult place to live, and I’d been there for eight years. And even though I knew graduate school meant more education and better job prospects, it also meant living at Grace House another two years. At the time I couldn’t face that prospect.
My heart has always been in my books and writing, but I couldn’t risk losing a paying job to pursue a dream. Now I’m ready to try. Not because I failed, but because this degree gives me the chance to link my passion with my livelihood.
Please let me know if the grant is still available. I will understand if you have selected another candidate.
Sincerely,
Samantha Moore
Dear Ms. Moore,
The grant for full tuition to the master’s program at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism remains available. At the strong recommendation of Father John, and due to the confidence he has in you, the director of the Dover Foundation has agreed to give you this second chance. There is, however, one stipulation. The director wants to receive personal progress letters from you as reassurance that this decision was the right one. You may write to him as you would to a journal, letting him know how your studies are going. He has opened a post office box for this purpose so you won’t feel the added pressure of an immediate connection to him or to the foundation. Additionally, he will not write back, but asks that you write to him regularly about “things that matter.”
He recognizes that this is an unusual requirement, but the foundation needs to know that its resources are being used in the best way possible. Given your sudden change of heart, he feels it is not too much to ask. To make this easier for you, he will also remain anonymous. You may write to him at this address under the name George Knightley.
Sincerely,
Laura Temper
Personal Assistant to
Mr. G. Knightley