The Last Promise
by Richard Paul Evans
List Price: $6.99
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0451211014
Publisher: Signet
Richard Paul Evans is the author of seven bestselling books. His first novel, The Christmas Box was a publishing phenomenon simultaneously reaching the number one position on both the hardcover and paperback New York Times bestseller lists—an industry first.
He has created charities that deal with issues close to his heart. Reports that grieving parents were looking for a place to mourn lost children drove Evans to commission the creation of an angel monument where they could find solace. Now there are more than forty angel statues around the country with one hundred more in the works. Every year on December 6, thousands gather at the angel statues for ceremonies and remembrances.
Evans also created The Christmas Box House International, a charity which works in partnership with local communities to seek, develop and implement comprehensive services for children who have been neglected or abused. Over 3,000 children have been helped so far.
Although Evans and his family moved to Italy, they still call Utah home.
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November 22, 2002
Toni Fitzgerald and ReadingGroupGuides.com Co-Founder Carol Fitzgerald (no relation) talk with New York Times bestselling author Richard Paul Evans about his new novel The Last Promise, which is set in Italy. Read on to find out about his inspiration for Elianna, his immersion into Italian culture and what his now-classic holiday story, THE CHRISTMAS BOX means to him.
RGG: Clearly, you have a deep affection for Italy. When and why did you decide to set a novel there?
RPE: THE CHRISTMAS BOX is about spending time with family. Ironically, after THE CHRISTMAS BOX became a bestseller, I was not able to spend as much time with my family as I would have liked. Life became too complex. I wasn't seeing my children anymore --- not just because of my schedule but because of theirs.
So, a year and a half ago, we decided we needed an adventure. We drew Italy out of a hat --- it could have been any where in the world. I felt inspired in Italy in a way I hadn't felt in a while. The inspiration turned into THE LAST PROMISE.
RGG: There is so much detail in the passages describing Italian life and events. How long did it take you to do the research?
RPE: The whole time I've lived in Italy --- and I'm still learning. I couldn't have written the book without jumping into the culture with both feet, learning the language and culture.
RGG: Many authors have told us that they shoot photographs or video and then write from them to ensure the authenticity of the places they are writing about. On your website RichardPaulEvans.com you have some wonderful photographs of places in the book. Did you shoot those?
RPE: I took some of them. Others were taken by a professional photographer. But they were taken after the book was written. I wrote mostly from memory.
RGG: Tell us about "Eliana," the woman by the pool. Reading we are not sure if there is a real-life "Eliana," or if she is just part of the story. Is this intentional on your part? If Eliana is real, how much of the story did she tell you and how much did you imagine? Was it difficult to fill in the gaps? Have you ever seen her again? Have you heard any reaction to the book from her? Are the names changed?
RPE: When we first arrived in Italy, it was a difficult adjustment. We were all homesick. We decided to go to the pool one day and there I met an American woman who told me she had married an Italian man. The man had changed after they moved to Italy and she was no longer happy in her marriage. When she said she was going back to America with their child her husband told her she could not leave with their child. The laws in Italy say the father must give permission. After THE LAST PROMISE was published, I ran into her again by chance in downtown Florence. Coincidentally she had just ordered my book. I took her a copy and let her know that she was my inspiration.
RGG: Though her life is repressed, Eliana has a wonderful, dry sense of humor. She is playful and charming. Is her humor a way for her to cope with her situation?
RPE: Yes, she is a strong woman, but even the strongest of us need help sometimes. And all of us deserve to find love, to smile, to laugh.
RGG: The parallel between the Vestal Virgins and Eliana is a powerful one. At what point did you decide to weave that into the story?
RPE: Touring the temple of Vesta in Rome, I learned about the Vestal Virgins and how the last promise they made was to give up love for the sake of family. When I learned that 18 of them had faced death for love I was immediately fascinated. I decided I wanted to write about them, but in modern terms.
RGG: From your description of Eliana as an artist, it is clear that you understand much of an artist's soul and inspiration. Had you studied how painters work? Is the process of painting similar to the process of writing?
RPE: Both writers and painters start with a blank canvas. Some stories come to you like thistle seed on the wind, THE LAST PROMISE was like that working itself into my mind. I ate, drank, and slept the story. Layer and layer made itself clear to me as I wrote and I suppose a painting evolves in layers as well. I also interviewed artists. Artists amaze me yet they seemed just as mystified by someone's ability to paint a picture with words.
RGG: The description of the Uffizi places the reader there wandering through the works as though on a private tour. How much did you know about art before writing the book? Has it always been an interest of yours?
RPE: I'm not an expert, but I have always appreciated art. In addition to reading a half dozen books about the museum and its art, I have spent a lot of time in the Uffizi and reading about the Uffizi so that I could describe Ross's tours as realistically as possible. The Uffizi is a huge museum-every time I go I am surprised by something new and beautiful. I have become a great fan of Boticelli and Raphael.
RGG: From your vivid descriptions of the grape harvest we can picture you writing with grape-stained fingers. Have you participated in a grape harvest?
RPE: I'm always gone on book tour during the harvest (Early October) so I had to participate in it vicariously, through pictures and walking through vineyards. It is a wonderful, busy time in Italy. Rendola has a magnificent vendemia --- it was from an actual vendemia menu that I took the dishes Eliana and Maurizio served at Rendola in The LAST PROMISE.
RGG: You write the scenes about Eliana cooking with great passion and detail. Are you an enthusiastic chef, or an enthusiastic gourmet?
RPE: Neither (though I make a darn good Italian sandwich). I guess I'm just a pretty enthusiastic eater.
RGG: Eliana's husband Maurizio is openly adulterous. Do you think his philandering --- and the way he saw his affairs as acceptable --- is cultural?
RPE: The Italian culture is much more lenient with extramarital affairs than America, though this has changed a lot in the last generation. They are becoming more like America in this respect. But there are still some hold outs.
RGG: Your books are known for endings that give hope. Do you approach them that way, is it a conscious decision, or does it just evolve?
RPE: I'm a hopeful person, so it comes naturally. Stars shine brightest in the darkest sky. I've found that hope, like the end of a story, often arrives when and where we least expect it.
RGG: This summer you wrote on another website in our Network, AuthorsOnTheWeb.com, that 501 ITALIAN VERBS by John Colaneri and Vincent Luciani was on your summer reading list because you wanted to improve your Italian. How is your Italian these days?
RPE: Il mio Italiano e ancora un po brutto ma abastanza bene per communicazione. (My Italian is still a little ugly but good enough to communicate.)
RGG: What is next for you? Can we expect another book with Italy as a setting? What other countries would you like to get to know in the same way?
RPE: My next novel is a love story. Who knows, Italy may play a part, but there are so many places to visit. I'm a little afraid of being "typecast" as an Italian writer. So I'll probably skip the country for one book.
RGG: You had quite a start in the business self-publishing THE CHRISTMAS BOX. With all your success does that remain a "special book" for you?
RPE: I wrote THE CHRISTMAS BOX to honor a parent's love for their child and it has brought comfort to many who have lost a child. That mission continues on today and the angel statues from the book continue to spread throughout the world. Someday there will be hundreds of angel monuments to help heal those who have lost children. THE CHRISTMAS BOX is my first born and will forever be something that I love.
RGG: Many people have made your books a part of their holiday season. Many of our readers have told us that rereading them is a special part of their annual celebrations. Have you heard the same thing? How are you celebrating the holidays this year? Will you be in Utah or Italy?
RPE: Yes, I'm frequently told that THE CHRISTMAS BOX has become a tradition. Nothing could please me more. My family will be spending one last Christmas in Italy before coming home.
Excerpted from The Last Promise © Copyright 2012 by Richard Paul Evans. Reprinted with permission by Signet. All rights reserved.
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