Dear Edward : A Novel

A twelve-year-old boy, the sole survivor of a tragic plane crash, finds reasons for hope and love in this riveting, life-affirming, luminous novel for readers of Little Fires Everywhere and The Immortalists . One summer morning, Flight 2977 takes off from Newark headed for Los Angeles. There are 191 passengers aboard: among them a Wall Street wunderkind; a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy; an injured vet returning from Afghanistan; a septuagenarian business tycoon battling cancer; a free-spirited woman running away from a controlling husband; and two beleaguered parents moving across the country with their adolescent sons. The younger of these boys, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, becomes the sole survivor after the plane suddenly crashes. Edward's survival captures the attention of the nation, and he becomes a symbol of hope and predestination for solace-seekers everywhere. But for Edward, life after the crash is bewildering. He struggles to make sense of the loss of his family, the strangeness of his sudden fame, and the meaning of his survival. As he moves through adolescence, he yearns to find a place for himself in an existence that no longer feels sure or secure. When he begins to receive letters from people around the world--each of them eager to offer advice, ask a favor, or share how Edward's survival has inspired them--he is forced to confront some of life's most profound questions: How do we make the most of the time we are given? For whom do we reach in our final moments? What does it mean to live a meaningful life? Told in alternating points of view, Dear Edward recounts the stories of the passengers aboard the flight as it hurtles toward its fateful end, and depicts Edward's life in the aftermath of the crash. Sweeping in scope but full of intimate detail, Dear Edward is a deeply moving, heartfelt novel about love, regret, and the human connections that define our lives.