The English Girl: A Novel (35 page)

T
his novel, like the previous books in the Gabriel Allon series, could not have been written without the assistance of David Bull, who truly is among the finest art restorers in the world. Each year, David gives up many hours of his valuable time to advise me on technical matters related to the craft of restoration and to review my manuscript for accuracy. His knowledge of art history is exceeded only by the pleasure of his company, and his friendship has enriched our family in ways large and small.

I spoke to numerous Israeli and American intelligence officers and policy makers while preparing this manuscript, and I thank them now in anonymity, which is how they would prefer it. My dear friend Gerald Malone, the former Conservative member of Parliament and minister of state for health, served as my guide to British politics and shared many fascinating stories about life inside the pressure-cooker atmosphere of 10 Downing Street. It goes without saying that the expertise is all his and that the mistakes and dramatic license are all mine.

I consulted hundreds of books, newspaper and magazine articles, and Web sites while preparing this manuscript, far too many to name here. I would be remiss, however, if I did not mention the extraordinary scholarship and reporting of Daniel Yergin, Edward Lucas, Pete Earley, Allan S. Cowell, William Prochnau, and Clint Van Zandt. Additionally, the memoirs of former prime ministers Tony Blair, John Major, and Margaret Thatcher were invaluable sources of information and background.

Louis Toscano, my dear friend and longtime personal editor, made countless improvements to my manuscript, as did my copy editor, Kathy Crosby. Obviously, responsibility for any mistakes or typographical errors that find their way into the finished book falls on my shoulders, not theirs.

We are blessed with many friends who fill our lives with love and laughter at critical junctures during the writing year, especially Andrea and Tim Collins, Enola and Stephen Carter, Stacey and Henry Winkler, Joy and Jim Zorn, and Margarita and Andrew Pate.

A heartfelt thanks to Robert B. Barnett, Michael Gendler, and Linda Rappaport for all their support and wise counsel. Also, to the remarkable team of professionals at HarperCollins, especially Jonathan Burnham, Brian Murray, Michael Morrison, Jennifer Barth, Josh Marwell, Tina Andreadis, Leslie Cohen, Leah Wasielewski, Mark Ferguson, Kathy Schneider, Brenda Segel, Carolyn Robson, Doug Jones, Karen Dziekonski, Archie Ferguson, David Watson, David Koral, and Leah Carlson-Stanisic.

I wish to extend my deepest gratitude and love to my children, Nicholas and Lily. Not only did they assist me with the final preparation of my manuscript, but they kept me company while I did my research and were a source of love and comfort while I worked. Finally, I must thank my wife, the brilliant NBC News journalist Jamie Gangel, who listened with remarkable forbearance as I worked through the twists and turns of the story and then skillfully edited my early drafts. Were it not for her patience and attention to detail,
The English Girl
would not have been completed by its deadline. My debt to her is immeasurable, as is my love.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DANIEL SILVA is the number one
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Unlikely Spy
,
The Mark of the
Assassin
,
The Marching Season
,
The Kill Artist
,
The English
Assassin
,
The Confessor
,
A Death in Vienna
,
Prince of
Fire
,
The Messenger
,
The Secret Servant
,
Moscow Rules
,
The Defector
,
The Rembrandt
Affair
,
Portrait of a Spy
, and
The Fallen Angel
. He is married to NBC News
Today
correspondent Jamie Gangel, and they live in
Washington, DC, with their two children, Lily and Nicholas. In 2009 Silva was
appointed to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council.

www.danielsilvabooks.com

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ALSO BY DANIEL SILVA

The Fallen Angel

Portrait of a Spy

The Rembrandt
Affair

The Defector

Moscow Rules

The Secret
Servant

The Messenger

Prince of Fire

A Death in Vienna

The Confessor

The English
Assassin

The Kill Artist

The Marching
Season

The Mark of the
Assassin

The Unlikely Spy

CREDITS

Cover design by Archie Ferguson

Cover photograph © by Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

The English Girl
is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents
portrayed in the story are the product of the author’s imagination or have been
used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
businesses, companies, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

THE ENGLISH
GIRL.
Copyright © 2013 by Daniel Silva. All rights reserved under
International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required
fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access
and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be
reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored
in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form
or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter
invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST
EDITION

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

ISBN 978-0-06-207316-7

EPUB Edition July 2013 ISBN 9780062073204

13 14 15 16 17
OV/RRD
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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