Alyson Richman gets ghostly with 'The Missing Pages'

It seems fitting that Alyson Richman has dedicated her latest book to her daughter, Charlotte. After all, if her daughter hadn't taken a tour of Harvard University while scouting colleges a few years ago, the ghostly protagonist of Richman's latest novel, "The Missing Pages" (Union Square & Co., $18.99), might never have materialized.

During a stop at Harvard's Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, the guide explained that the building was the brainchild of Widener's mother, who had it created to honor her son, an avid book lover who had perished on the Titanic at 27. Charlotte then told the story to Richman, who grew up in St. James. "His mother, who was also on the Titanic, had room in her lifeboat for him to join her, but he told her that he had to go back to his cabin to retrieve this very rare and precious book he had purchased in London," Richman said. Neither Widener nor the book were ever found.

That planted the seed for "The Missing Pages," a story that travels between the past and the present and tells the story of a Harvard junior working as a page at the library who believes Widener's ghost is within the library and trying to help her deal with her own loss.

Richman, who will be appearing at Theodore's Books in Oyster Bay on Oct. 28, recently chatted about the novel by phone from her home in Huntington Bay.

What was your reaction when your daughter told you that story about Harry on the Titanic?

My immediate reaction was "Oh, I'm just sure that he said that to his mother in order to make sure that she was lowered in the lifeboat and into her seat. ... Then I kept thinking, is there any truth to this story. That’s what got me interested to find out what book it was. And then before I got deeper into the research, I started to think wouldn’t it be really fun and interesting to write the story of what really happened in those last moments on the Titanic but to tell the story in Harry's voice as a ghost inside the library that his mother built in his honor.

How extensive was your research?

The first part was reading as much as I could about the Titanic. ... But the research that was even more satisfying was finding out, who was Harry Elkins Widener? I thought if I'm writing in the voice of his ghost then I really have to do my due diligence and feel that I'm inhabiting him mentally and physically. I did my research on the Widener family. How did they become wealthy? How did Harry become interested in books? Who were the men who shaped his book collection? There was a very famous Philadelphia book seller by the name of Rosenbach and he had a very close relationship with Harry, so to be able to read the letters between Harry and Rosenbach was very important. I visited the Rosenbach museum and library in Philadelphia.

And did you go to Harvard?

Yes, I did go the Widener library and it was amazing talking with their librarian and walking through it and seeing it. There’s this beautiful painting of Harry over the mantel in this memorial room. To go in there and see his eyes and feel his presence, that all went into creating the atmosphere of the novel.

How did growing up on Long Island influence you as a writer?

I grew up in the S. James, Nissequogue, Smithtown area that has so much history tied to it, Not only was there the history of the Smith family and Sanford White's wife being killed down the street from where my family lived, but I went to Harbor Country Day School that was this old 1915 building that was steeped in this romantic, historic period. I just always loved that. I love the strong connection that area has to Revolutionary War History. I was in the present but felt all of these flickers of the past all around me. Being a child who loved to read and loved to learn, I was always drawn to those little glimmers of the past.