For Ann Napolitano, the Third Time’s the Charm

YOURS SINCERELY To hear Ann Napolitano talk — at a pre-publication lunch, at an event to celebrate the relaunch of Dial Press, on the “Today” show — is to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she did not write her third novel, “Dear Edward,” with any victory lap in mind. It’s not that she’s a fish out of water behind a podium or on a white couch in a television studio; in fact, Napolitano commands attention in a quietly mesmerizing way, like the veteran teacher she is. She’s a writer’s writer, which is like being a long-distance runner. Sure, she’ll show up for the marathon — this time she crossed the finish line with great fanfare, giving “Dear Edward” its monthlong run (and counting) on the best-seller list — but clearly she’s fueled by daily neighborhood runs. In other words: putting words on the page.

“I wrote on the subway, in my parked car and when my kids were in school,” she says. “This book was a complete joy to write.”

“Dear Edward” tells the story of a 12-year-old boy who survives a plane crash that kills his family. Napolitano explains, “In 2010, a flight from South Africa to London crashed in Libya. There was one survivor: a 9-year-old Dutch boy who was found half a mile away from the wreckage, still buckled into his seat. He had a punctured lung and a broken leg, but otherwise he was fine. Everyone else on the plane died immediately, including his brother and his parents. This story just flayed me. I could not imagine how the boy would be O.K.— and I could feel from the stickiness of my obsession that I was going to have to write a book that created a set of circumstances to make him O.K.” The result is a surprisingly uplifting story, full of hope and dry humor, with an underlying, noncloying message about the decency of strangers.

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