A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Selection Longlisted for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Book Prize
“[A] terrific first novel. . . . Why worry about labeling a book this good? Just read it.” —Laurie Muchnick, New York Times Book Review
Jess is fifteen years old and waiting for the world to end. Her evangelical father has packed up the family to drive west to California, hoping to save as many souls as possible before the Second Coming. With her long-suffering mother and rebellious (and secretly pregnant) sister, Jess hands out tracts to nonbelievers at every rest stop, Waffle House, and gas station along the way. As Jess’s belief frays, her teenage myopia evolves into awareness about her fracturing family. Selected as a Barnes & Noble Discover pick and an Indie Next pick, Mary Miller’s radiant debut novel reinvigorates the literary road-trip story with wry vulnerability and savage charm.
Mary Miller is the author of three previous books, including the story collection Always Happy Hour and the novel The Last Days of California. She is a former James A. Michener Fellow and John and Renée Grisham Writer-in-Residence. She lives in Oxford, Mississippi.
It was the best of times, it was the end of times. Apocalyptic fiction and dystopias had their moment, but what happens after a cataclysm is only half the story. An arguably more interesting tale lies in the days before the collapse, when people must cope with the end of their lives as they know them. It’s in […]
Recent buzz around the question of whether adults can read young adult lit without shame may have left you standing paralyzed over a copy of Harry Potter, waiting for a final verdict. I’m firmly on the side of “read what you want”—and must also point out the fact that there’s plenty of candy-coated lit on […]
It’s been a big month for Mary Miller. Even prior to last month’s release of her debut novel, The Last Days of California, excerpts and starred reviews found their way into the pages of Elle, O! Magazine, Redbook, and Publisher’s Weekly. For those who have been following Miller’s work, whether in print, online journals, or through […]
Turning pages is hard when you’re spending 20 hours a day in mittens. But March is here, and with it comes hope that we’re not actually living in a permanent Narnia winter. As you defrost, here are 4 sun-drenched reads to remind you that, in just a few months’ time, we’ll be happily complaining about the […]
We can’t forking believe how much we miss The Good Place now that its second season has come and gone. If you’re like us, you’re probably looking for a bit of a distraction during the wait for the next season’s worth of harebrained schemes from Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, Jason, Michael, and, most of all, Janet. […]
