Banishing Verona

From Banishing Verona : He had played the message eight times, each time thinking that he might hear something different, might hear her saying I'm in the lobby, meet me at the Fogg Museum, and feeling more incredulous than the time before when the message ended, "See you in London. I can't wait." He had always understood the expression "uprooted" as a metaphor but now he avoided looking down for fear that he would be able to discern the forking white roots which he had torn so painfully, at such inconvenience and expense, out of the shallow soil of his life. As he listened, he understood that every minute since he landed he had believed that Verona was about to appear; he would round a corner, turn over in bed, step into a restaurant and there she would be, her lovely, large, unmistakable self. Excerpted from Banishing Verona: A Novel by Margot Livesey All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.