Monica Wood can thank her husband for her latest novel, “The One-in-a-Million Boy.”

Wood finished the book in 2008, but her publisher rejected it. Stung, she set the manuscript aside, all but giving up on it and moving on to other things. She wrote her memoir, “When We Were the Kennedys,” and a play, “Papermaker.”

All the while, “The One-in-a-Million Boy” remained buried and forgotten. It survived only because Wood’s husband, Dan Abbott, wouldn’t let her leave it alone. “I didn’t want to go back to it,” she said. “I didn’t even want to read it.”

Abbott did. Over seven days, he read Wood’s unpublished manuscript to her out loud. When her husband finished reading, Wood realized the book was not the failure she thought it was. She revised it over six months and sent it to her agent, who found a publisher within 24 hours.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publishes the novel April 5. Wood plans to celebrate with a hometown launch party at Portland Stage Company that same night.

“It’s one of those ‘be patient, don’t give up’ stories. This book is special to me. It was a hard one,” said Wood, who lives in Portland.

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She and her publisher expect a lot from this book. It’s being published in 16 countries, and Wood has already completed one promotional tour to London. Two weeks ago, she was in New York working on U.S. promotions.

Like a lot of Wood’s writing, this book continues her theme of assembling families from broken parts.

The novel is about a 104-year-old Lithuanian immigrant woman named Ona and a sweet 11-year-old boy. The reader never meets the boy, because he dies very early in the novel. But he is present throughout.

As part of his Scouting duties, he helped the woman with her chores on Saturday mornings.

The boy’s father, a journeyman guitarist named Quinn, shows up after his son’s death to fulfill the boy’s commitment to the elderly woman.

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The friendship between the boy’s father and the woman drives the plot.

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The party at Portland Stage, which is free but required reservations and is now at capacity, will be dramatic. Wood recruited Portland actors Moira Driscoll, Maureen Butler, Ron Botting and Daniel Noel to read a few scenes from the book on stage.

“It’s a reading, but it’s really a performance,” Wood said.

Wood has a working history with Portland Stage. The theater produced her debut play, “Papermaker,” last season. When it was time to schedule an event to mark the release of her new book, she knew whom to ask.

The evening begins with a reception in the theater lobby at 6:30 p.m., and the staged reading will begin inside the theater at 7 p.m. Wood will say a few words, then turn things over to the actors. She will sign copies of the book after the reading.

“Usually, I am a wreck before a launch party. This one – I can’t wait. It’s going to be fun,” she said.

 


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