News

From time to time I'll be posting a variety of informal notices here about my activities and writing, as well as selected correspondence from readers.

Lisette's List

I was thrilled to receive this letter from Giuseppe Russo, the editorial director of my Italian publishing company, Neri Pozza.

Dear Susan,

I have been eagerly awaiting your new novel for some time and was very happy to receive it from your agent.

Reading Lisette's List was an immeasurable pleasure. Your novel is just as amazing as your previous books, and the idea to write about paintings by Pissarro, Cézanne, Chagall is brilliant. The beautiful village of Roussillon and the Second World War as a backdrop are the perfect setting for this story full of heartbreak, but also love and, of course, art.

I particularly liked the character of Pascal, and his stories about how he met the artists and how he received the paintings. And thanks to your descriptions, all the paintings came to life in front of my eyes. I did recognize some, while reading, but was also surprised to learn that you invented two of them.

Lisette is a character very much in line with all those strong women who fight for their rights, which we always look for in the novels we choose for Neri Pozza.

Your writing is as brilliant as ever. Your characters are wonderfully true and alive. The plot is brilliantly constructed and also very up to date, considering that the press talks a lot about rediscovered art, that has been stolen or hidden during the war. And in every page I could sense your passion and love for art, which I very much share with you.

There would be much more to say about this wonderful book, but I hope that by now you can already feel my enthusiasm.

I'm sure that all your Italian readers can't wait to see your new book and as you know we have great contacts with the Italian press and with organizers of the most important literary festivals. I'm sure that this new novel is bound to encounter a big success in Italy and we are all very much looking forward to publishing you again.

Very best,
Giuseppe Russo
direttore editoriale
NERI POZZA

What Love Sees eBook Release

My first novel, What Love Sees, published in 1988, has been out of print since 1991. I'm thrilled to have RosettaBooks bring it back, this time as an ebook and print on demand. See the What Love Sees section.

Speaker Phone Chats

I'm offering half hour speaker phone chats to book discussion groups of ten or more which have read one of my books. A chat can be arranged by emailing me with your first and second choice of dates, and time, including time zone and your phone number. Be sure to consult the discussion questions and teacher's guide for the book you have chosen to read. Be prepared with questions of your own to ask me. We'll have a fine time.

Life Studies Wins Award

Life Studies won the Theodor Geisel Award for Best Book of 2005, the highest honor of the San Diego Book Awards. This makes Susan Vreeland a three-time winner of this award. Girl in Hyacinth Blue won it in 1999 and The Passion of Artemisia won it in 2002.

Teachers! NCTE Address

I had the pleasure of addressing secondary English teachers at the National Council of Teachers of English in Pittsburgh, November 17, 2005. Many teachers attending asked for the text of the address.

Here it is, with good wishes, Susan.

Teachers! Vreeland in Prentice-Hall Literature Textbook

The story, "Magdalena Looking," from Girl in Hyacinth Blue, is the lead section in Prentice-Hall's innovative new tenth grade literature textbook. Accompanying it are my remarks on the process of writing it, as well as an essay on the use of research in writing fiction. The new series provides the perspective of contemporary writers "speaking" directly to students and inviting them in to the community of writers.

Film of Girl in Hyacinth Blue

In its most ambitious and lavish production ever, Hallmark Hall of Fame adapted Girl in Hyacinth Blue for television, with a screenplay written by Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo. Retitled Brush with Fate, and filmed entirely in The Netherlands, starring Glenn Close, Ellen Burstyn, and Thomas Gibson, it is available in DVD and video at Hallmark Gold Crown Stores.

Translations of My Books

Girl in Hyacinth Blue
Australia, Brazil, China, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Philippines, Russia, Serbia/Slovakia, Spain (Spanish and Catalan), Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey

The Passion of Artemisia
Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Italy, Korea, The Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Serbia/Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey

The Forest Lover
Canada, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Poland,

Life Studies
Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Serbia/Slovakia

Luncheon of the Boating Party
Germany, Israel, Italy, Korea, The Netherlands, Serbia/Slovakia

Clara and Mr. Tiffany
Italy, Hungary, Russia, Turkey

Lisette's List
Italy, Russia