The submission

THE SUBMISSION

THE

SUBMISSION
AMY WALDMAN

FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX

NEW YORK

Farrar, Straus and Giroux 18 West 18th Street, New York 10011 Copyright © 2011 by Amy Waldman All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First edition, 2011 The poem quoted in the epigraph is from Kabul, 1969. Portions of this novel have previously been published in slightly different form in

The Afghans, by Mohammed Ali,

The Atlantic.

Waldman, Amy, 1969The submission / Amy Waldman. - 1st ed. p. em. ISBN 978-0-374-27156-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001-Social aspects­ Fiction. I. Title. PS3623.A35675S83 2011 813'.6-dc22 2011007509 Designed by Jonathan D. Lippincott www.fsgbooks.com 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 2. Memorials-Designs and plans-Fiction.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

To my parents, Don and Marilyn Waldman

Like the cypress tree, which holds its head high and is free within the confines of a garden, I, too, feel free in this world, and I am not bound by its attachments. -an unidentified Pashto poet

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"The names," Claire said. "What about the names?" "They're a record, not a gesture," the sculptor replied. Ariana's words brought nods from the other artists, the critic, and the two purveyors of public art arrayed along the dining table, united beneath her sway. She was the jury's most famous figure, its dominant personality, Claire's biggest problem. Ariana had seated herself at the head of the table, as if she were presiding. For the previous four months they had deliberated at a table that had no head, being round. It was in an office suite high above the gouged earth, and there the other jurors had deferred to the widow's desire to sit with her back to the window, so that the charnel ground below was only a gray blur when Claire walked to her chair.