"Phyllis A. Whitney - Woman Without A Past" - читать интересную книгу автора (Whitney Phyllis A)

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DOUBLEDAY
NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY AUCKLAND
JUl 199!
PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY ,',
a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
666 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10103
DOUBLEDAY and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are trademarks of Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
All of the characters in this book are fictitious,
and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
is purely coincidental.
Designed by Anne Ling
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Whitney, Phyllis A., 1903-
Woman without a past / Phyllis A. Whitney. - 1st ed. p. cm. I. Title.
PS3545.H8363W6 1991
813'.54-dc20 90-3860
CIP
ISBN 0-385-41784-5
ISBN 0-385-41988-0 (large print)
Copyright © 1991 by Phyllis A. Whitney
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
June 1991
10 987654321
FIRST EDITION
For Sally Arteseros,
my editor and good friend
for so many years-
With Affection and Gratitude


foreword
I visited Charleston, South Carolina, in May of 1989. A few months later Hugo swept in with devastating force to change portions of the landscape forever. The Charleston I have written about here is the city I saw before the hurricane; a city that has recovered from a good many disastrous blows over the years, yet with its spirit always intact.
Friends tell me that the Historic District, which is the main setting for my novel, came through with minor damage to those sturdy old buildings. The plantation houses up the peninsula stand as they did before the storm. Perhaps the major, irreparable loss to the entire area was the hundreds of beautiful trees-some of them a century old and more. As I wrote, nothing had touched them, and I could see them in my mind as they were.
The plantation house I've called Mountfort Hall is a composite of the houses I visited, though with an emphasis on Drayton Hall.
FOREWORD
The people of Charleston are resilient and have always carried on their lives with grace and courage. Several residents of the Historic District opened their homes to me while I was there, inviting me back of the scenes.
Anne Wall's lovely South Battery house crept into my narrative, with a few changes that bow to the needs of plot. I fell in love with a child's rocking horse I saw in an upper room, and it became a "character" in my story.
My thanks to Helen and Harold Tinley for showing me their charming home in one of Charleston's "single houses." Helen was my "scout" on an occasion when I needed the exact details for one of my scenes. She also sent me a vivid account of what it was like to live through Hugo.
Catherine Boykin introduced me to Patricia Dwight, whose street-level house was filled with treasures from the Far East.
Fortunately, these were removed to an upper floor before the storm brought in two feet of mud. I thank both these women for their help with my project.
With each new setting that I write about, I turn first to the local public library for help. I am especially grateful to Jan Buvinger, director of the Charleston County Library, who arranged for members of her staff to assist me.
Michael Leonard, Public Service Manager for the library at the time, gave me some of my best scenes. Thanks to him, I learned about the Footlight Players, and was able to wander backstage in the old warehouse that houses their theater. Michael also showed me the inspiring view of St. Philip's lighted steeple from the alley that runs past the stage door. Sparks for my imagination! While in Charleston, I stayed at the Ansonborough Inn,
§ which also occupies an old cotton warehouse, and gave me some eerie scenes for my book. I've changed its name to the Gadsden
FOREWORD
Inn, and have taken only a few liberties with the setting. My thanks to the staff for being endlessly helpful.
Visitors are thronging back to Charleston, as they always have -and a city that is like no other is welcoming its guests.
I felt almost wonderful.
If it hadn't been for the other occupant of my publisher's waiting room, there'd have been no "almost." A recently completed manuscript rested safely in the briefcase on my knees, while the hardcover of my newly published suspense novel, Crystal Fire, stood prominently displayed on a shelf across the room.