Dear Ones:
I have something so very special for you today, quite out of the blue.
As some of you know, my new novel "The Signature of All Things" is coming out in October. The book takes place all over the world (beginning in England, circumnavigating the globe, settling for a spell in South America, then back to Europe, then to Indonesia, then over to Philadelphia, then off to French Polynesia, then back to Europe again) but the main body of our story takes place in Philadelphia, where my heroine Alma Whittaker is born, and where she lives the first decades of her life.
Alma is raised on a magnificent (and fictitious) estate called White Acre. When I was researching the novel, I worked hard to find an actual mansion from Philadelphia's history that would serve as a good plausible basis for the Whittaker's home. I found just the right place in The Woodlands, a decaying 18th century architectural masterpiece whose original owner (appropriately enough) was an amateur botanist. I explored that house and its grounds as intimately as I could, and then used it as an inspiration for White Acre.
So when it came time for my publisher to film a promotional "movie trailer" for the book, we decided to shoot it at The Woodlands...thus this beautiful video came to life.
You will all be the first to see it, though not by much! Within an hour of my sending you this dispatch, the book trailer will also be distributed by Oprah Winfrey, on her "Live Your Best Life" newsletter. I am so honored that she has chosen it! But I very much wanted you all to see it first.
So here you go, everyone...click and enjoy!
