The Innocents (39 page)

The tone at the end of your novel is less bleak and more optimistic than that of
The Age of Innocence.
What do you feel are the most important differences between Wharton’s novel and your own?

I had a slightly different message from Wharton.
The Age of Innocence
is already less scathing and condemnatory than
The House of Mirth
, written fifteen years before. But still—it’s pretty damning. I wasn’t willing to condemn North West London in quite the same way, nor did I believe it fair to suggest that the fulfillment of Adam’s life would be that “
his days were full, and they were filled decently. He supposed it was all a man ought to ask
.” Newland Archer has a loveless, emotionally sterile marriage with May Welland, and his only consolations are society and status. And even the value of these is subtly undermined by the liberations of the next generation—Newland’s son Dallas is in love with Julius Beaufort’s daughter Fanny, and therefore is doing precisely what society long before had believed would mark the apocalypse—“
marrying Beaufort’s bastards
.” But it’s not the apocalypse—it no longer matters. They’re marrying, unimpeded, for love. Newland and Ellen were thirty years too early for their love affair. And it is explicitly stated that they are the grand loves of each other’s lives. In that way, my novel is very different. I didn’t want it to be clear-cut.

I would never tell a reader whether I believe Adam’s decision was right or wrong in terms of their future together beyond the book—I’d love to know what conclusions people draw by themselves, actually. But yes, in either case, my message is far less categorical and more optimistic than Wharton’s.

About the Author

Francesca Segal
was born in London and studied at Oxford and Harvard University before becoming a journalist and critic. Her work has appeared in
Granta
,
The Guardian
, and
The Observer
, among other publications. For three years she wrote the Debut Fiction column in
The Observer
and was, until recently, a features writer at
Tatler
. She divides her time between New York and London.

Visit
www.francescasegal.com
for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

Copyright Page

Copyright © 2012 Francesca Segal

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information address Hyperion, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011.

The Library of Congress has catalogued the original print edition of this book as follows:

Segal, Francesca

The Innocents/Francesca Segal.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-4013-4181-7

1. Fiancés—Fiction. 2. Betrothal—Fiction. 3. Ambivalence— Fiction. 4. Jewish families— Fiction. 5. London (England)— Fiction. 6. Jewish fiction. 7. Domestic fiction. I. Title.

PS3619.E374I55 2012

813′.6—dc22

2011022107

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Jacket design by Laura Klynstra

Jacket photograph by Sarah Ketelaars/Trevillion

Author photograph by ABC/Donna Svennevik

First eBook Edition

Original hardcover edition printed in the United States of America.

www.HyperionBooks.com