Most Popular Books by Maile Meloy

One of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2009-- now adapted into the feature film Certain Women, starring Kristen Stewart-- award-winning writer Maile Meloy''s short stories explore complex lives in an austere landscape with the clear-sightedness that first endeared her to readers. Don''t miss her new novel, Do Not Become Alarmed. Meloy''s first return to short stories since her critically acclaimed debut, Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It is an extraordinary new work from one of the most promising writers of the last decade. Eleven unforgettable new stories demonstrate the emotional power and the clean, assured style that have earned Meloy praise from critics and devotion from readers. Propelled by a terrific instinct for storytelling, and concerned with the convolutions of modern love and the importance of place, this collection is about the battlefields-and fields of victory-that exist in seemingly harmless spaces, in kitchens and living rooms and cars. Set mostly in the American West, the stories feature small-town lawyers, ranchers, doctors, parents, and children, and explore the moral quandaries of love, family, and friendship. A ranch hand falls for a recent law school graduate who appears unexpectedly- and reluctantly-in his remote Montana town. A young father opens his door to find his dead grandmother standing on the front step. Two women weigh love and betrayal during an early snow. Throughout the book, Meloy examines the tensions between having and wanting, as her characters try to keep hold of opposing forces in their lives: innocence and experience, risk and stability, fidelity and desire. Knowing, sly, and bittersweet, Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It confirms Maile Meloy''s singular literary talent. Her lean, controlled prose, full of insight and unexpected poignancy, is the perfect complement to her powerfully moving storytelling.

Fourteen remarkable stories that combine strong Western settings with a subtle and distinct female voice. This critically celebrated debut collection marks the exciting beginning of prize-winner Meloy’s promising career. Lean and controlled in their narration, abundant and moving in their effects, Maile Meloy’s stories introduce a striking talent. Most are set in the modern American West, made vivid and unexpected in Meloy’s unsentimental vision; others take us to Paris, wartime London, and Greece, with the same remarkable skill and intuition. In “Four Lean Hounds, ca. 1976,” two couples face a complicated grief when one of the four dies. In “Ranch Girl,” the college-bound daughter of a ranch foreman must choose which adult world she wants to occupy. In “A Stakes Horse,” a woman confronts risk and loss at the racetrack and at home. And in “Aqua Boulevard”—winner of the 2001 Aga Khan Prize for Fiction—an elderly Parisian confronts his mortality. Meloy’s command of her characters’ voices is breathtaking; their fears and desires are deftly illuminated. Smart, surprising, and evocative, Meloy’s brilliantly observed stories fully engage the mind and heart.

The moving and suspenseful new novel that Ann Patchett calls "smart and thrilling and impossible to put down... the book that every reader longs for." “This summer’s undoubtable smash hit… an addictive, heart-palpitating story.” —Marie Claire The sun is shining, the sea is blue, the children have disappeared. When Liv and Nora decide to take their husbands and children on a holiday cruise, everyone is thrilled. The adults are lulled by the ship’s comfort and ease. The four children—ages six to eleven—love the nonstop buffet and their newfound independence. But when they all go ashore for an adventure in Central America, a series of minor misfortunes and miscalculations leads the families farther from the safety of the ship. One minute the children are there, and the next they’re gone. The disintegration of the world the families knew—told from the perspectives of both the adults and the children—is both riveting and revealing. The parents, accustomed to security and control, turn on each other and blame themselves, while the seemingly helpless children discover resources they never knew they possessed. Do Not Become Alarmed is a story about the protective force of innocence and the limits of parental power, and an insightful look at privileged illusions of safety. Celebrated for her spare and moving fiction, Maile Meloy has written a gripping novel about how quickly what we count on can fall away, and the way a crisis shifts our perceptions of what matters most.

From the award-winning author of "Liars and Saints" comes a riveting sequel of love, sex, secrets, guilt, and forgiveness, which follows the fascinating Santerre clan to Argentina.

From a New York Times bestselling author comes this poignant, lyrical tale about nature''s great escape artist—perfect for fans of the Oscar-winning documentary film My Octopus Teacher. The octopus is happy in his undersea cave until one day, a diver captures him and takes him to live in an aquarium. The humans give him food and tests that look like toys. But every day is the same, and the octopus soon tires of captive life. And so, under the cover of darkness, he makes his daring escape... Maile Meloy and Felicita Sala bring us a story full of excitement and heart, about the thrill of hard-won freedom and the pull of home.

It''s 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows - a fascinating boy who''s not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin''s father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary''s sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies - Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster. Together with Ian Schoenherr''s breathtaking illustrations, this is a truly stunning package from cover to cover.

Two years have passed since Janie Scott last saw Benjamin Burrows, the mysterious apothecary’s defiant son who stole her heart. On the other side of the world, Benjamin and his father are treating the sick and wounded in the war-torn jungles of Vietnam. But Benjamin has also been experimenting with a magical new formula that allows him to communicate with Janie across the globe. When Benjamin discovers that she''s in trouble, he calls on their friend Pip for help. The three friends are thrown into a desperate chase around the world to find one another, while unraveling the mystery of what threatens them all. Acclaimed author Maile Meloy seamlessly weaves together magic and adventure in this breathtaking sequel with stunning illustrations by Ian Schoenherr.

From one of the most popular and acclaimed story writers of her generation, a single-volume short story from the author of 2017''s Do Not Become Alarmed, a beautifully packaged palm-sized gift book. “That the yellow house was thrillingly affordable might have been a warning sign, if Eleanor had known how to read it. But she’d been desperate. She was sharing a room with her four-year-old daughter, Hattie, in her parents’ house, and she had to get out.” From the award-winning novelist and short story writer Maile Meloy, Devotion: A Rat Story is an exquisitely unsettling tale about a young single mother whose new home becomes a kind of nightmare she must resolve on her own. Eleanor is in such a rush to move away from her parents that she allows an imperious realtor to rush her to close on the too-good-to-be-true home without an inspection. Shortly after the house becomes legally hers—with every cent and all of her pride and future tied up in the property—the giant rats show themselves. In the yard, in the kitchen, on her daughter’s bed. A walk around the block reveals a decrepit neighboring house where two elderly sisters are feeding and fostering thousands of unusal “pets.” What has Eleanor done? What action can she possibly take now? In Meloy’s characteristically clean, assured style, she captures the hopes and horrors of domestic life with an element of suspense that drives the reader feverishly to the end.

The triumphant finale in the bestselling trilogy is now in paperback! It’s 1955, and Benjamin Burrows and Janie Scott are trying to live a safe, normal life in America. It’s not easy, when they have the power to prevent nuclear disaster, and sinister forces are circling. Soon the advice of a mysterious, unscrupulous magician propels Janie and Benjamin into danger, and toward the land of the dead. Meanwhile, their friend Jin Lo washes up on a remote island where an American spy is stationed, and finds herself on the trail of a deadly threat in China. But she’s on the other side of the world—how can Janie and Benjamin reach her? The triumphant finale in the trilogy that began with Maile Meloy’s bestselling, critically acclaimed The Apothecary, and continued in its captivating sequel, The Apprentices, The After-Room is full of enchantment and heart, with Ian Schoenherr’s stunning illustrations throughout.

De una autora best seller del New York Times surge este conmovedor y lírico relato sobre el gran artista del escape en la naturaleza, perfecto para los fanáticos del documental ganador del Oscar My Octopus Teacher. El pulpo vivía feliz en su cueva submarina hasta que un día, un buzo lo captura y lo lleva a vivir a un acuario. Los humanos le dan comida y le ponen pruebas que parecen juguetes. Pero todos los días son iguales, y el pulpo pronto se cansa de la vida cautiva. Y así, al amparo de la oscuridad, emprende un escape audaz. Maile Meloy y Felicita Sala nos traen una historia llena de emoción y sentimiento, sobre la exaltación de conquistar la libertad con tanto esfuerzo y el llamado del hogar.

Blijf rustig van Maile Meloy is een ijzersterke, psychologische thriller over de nachtmerrie van iedere ouder: wat als je kind opeens verdwijnt? Voor de liefhebbers van Paula Hawkins en Ruth Ware. In een opwelling besluiten Liv en Nora met hun gezinnen op een cruise naar de Cariben te gaan. De vakantie begint perfect: iedereen geniet van de luxe op het schip en van het mooie weer. Maar tijdens een stop in Costa Rica gaat het mis. De mannen gaan golfen, de vrouwen naar het strand met de kinderen. Liv doezelt wat in de zon en Nora flirt met de gids. En opeens zijn de kinderen weg... Een familiecrisis in een warm vakantieland die genadeloos onder je huid kruipt. Wat zou jij doen? Meloy combineert een uitzonderlijk schrijfniveau met een commerciële plot die klinkt als een klok. Niet weg te leggen!

With her first novel, "Liars and Saints, " award-winning author Maile Meloy more than delivers on the promise of her highly acclaimed debut story collection, "Half in Love." This richly textured novel tells a story of sex and longing, love and loss, and of the deceit that can lie at the heart of family relationships. Set in California, "Liars and Saints" follows four generations of the Catholic Santerre family from World War II to the present. In a family driven as much by jealousy and propriety as by love, an unspoken tradition of deceit is passed from generation to generation. When tragedy shatters their precarious domestic lives, it takes astonishing courage and compassion to bring them back together. By turns funny and disturbing, irreverent and profound, "Liars and Saints" is a masterful display of Maile Meloy''s prodigious gifts and of her penetrating insight into an extraordinary American family and into the nature of human love.