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Wickett's Remedy

by Myla Goldberg (Goodreads Author)

3.25 of 5 stars 3.25 · rating details · 1,299 ratings · 234 reviews

Lydia Kilkenny is eager to move beyond her South Boston childhood, and when she marries Henry Wickett, a shy Boston Brahmin who plans to become a doctor, her future seems assured. That path changes when Henry abandons his medical studies and enlists Lydia to help him invent a mail-order medicine called Wickett’s Remedy. Then the 1918 influenza epidemic sweeps through Bosto...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published October 10th 2006 by Anchor (first published 2005)

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Apr 28, 2008 Holli rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

I liked the book better than the reviewer below. I was very interested in the history of the flu epidemic and felt the author did a good job in bringing the period to life. I also liked the margin comments by the dead—reminded me of the graveyard scene in Our Town. They demonstrated how there are always many sides to a story, depending on our perspective. They added a bit of humor and a reminder not to take ourselves too seriously. I question the reviewer’s statement that we never truly know Ly...more I liked the book better than the reviewer below. I was very interested in the history of the flu epidemic and felt the author did a good job in bringing the period to life. I also liked the margin comments by the dead—reminded me of the graveyard scene in Our Town. They demonstrated how there are always many sides to a story, depending on our perspective. They added a bit of humor and a reminder not to take ourselves too seriously. I question the reviewer’s statement that we never truly know Lydia. I felt that I knew her in that I experienced her growth from a girl into a mature woman, finding her way through grief and sadness. Ultimately, the nursing job allowed her to reach beyond herself to help others and to find love again. I also liked the way the author juxtaposed her story with the development of QD Soda. I didn’t like QD Soda, which was Goldberg’s point. I had a very bad cold while reading this book and have to admit that I worried some about my health while reading the passages about the flu!

From Publishers Weekly
The author of the bestselling Bee Season returns with an accomplished but peculiarly tensionless historical novel that follows the shifting fortunes of a young Irish-American woman. Raised in tough turn-of-the-century South Boston, Lydia Kilkenny works as a shopgirl at a fancy downtown department store, where she meets shy, hypochondriacal medical student Henry Wickett. After a brief courtship, the two marry (Henry down, Lydia decidedly up) in 1914. Henry quits school to promote his eponymous remedy, whose putative healing powers have less to do with the tasty brew that Lydia concocts than with the personal letters that Henry pens to each buyer. After failing to pass the army physical as the U.S. enters WWI, Henry quickly, dramatically dies of influenza, and Lydia returns to Southie, where she watches friends, neighbors and her beloved brother die in the 1918 epidemic. A flu study that employs human subjects is being conducted on Boston Harbor's Gallups Island; lonely Lydia signs on as a nurse's assistant, and there finds a smidgen of hope and a chance at a happier future. A pastiche of other voices deepens her story: chapters close with snippets from contemporary newspapers, conversations among soldiers and documents revealing the surprising fate of Wickett's Remedy. And the dead offer margin commentary—by turns wistful, tender and corrective (and occasionally annoying). Yet as well-researched, polished and poignant as the book is, Goldberg never quite locks in her characters' mindsets, and sometimes seems adrift amid period detritus. While readers will admire Lydia, they may not feel they ever truly know her.

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Nov 30, 2007 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: history fans, romantics, hypochondriacs

I grabbed this because I liked Bee Season well enough and it cost $3 and I had nothing to read. I was well-rewarded for my $3 gamble. One thing that made the book extra-resonant with me was that I started reading it just before I got a bad head cold, so the whole time I was reading about the Spanish Influenza outbreak, I was sick as well. It was weird. I'm not recommending contracting the flu before you read, though.

This novel isn't structured like most others; Goldberg uses margin notes to corr...more

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Oct 11, 2010 Erica - Bonner Springs Library rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone up for a great audio book

Shelves: 2009, adult-fiction, audiobook

I loved this as an audiobook. Myla Goldberg, the author, is the reader and she does a fabulous job. The story is not only intriguing and interesting but the different parts of the book revolving around QD Soda and Lydia and how they are portrayed in the audio book really makes the whole audio book so enjoyable. I can imagine that this would be distracting as a reader of the book. The different sections weren't just read they have sounds to alert you what part of the book you're being read. It's...more

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Jan 04, 2009 Pris robichaud rated it 4 of 5 stars

As they lay Dying, -The 1918 Influenza Epidemic, 20 Nov 2006

"The 1918 influenza epidemic-whose cause is sill a matter of debate-killed more Americans in tem months than died in all twentieth century wars combined and killed well over 20 million people worldwide. Gallups Island, now known as Gallop Island, in Boston Harbor was in November and December of 1918 the site of a United States Public Health Service study designed to determine the cause and mode of the spread of the illness. The subject...more

As they lay Dying, -The 1918 Influenza Epidemic, 20 Nov 2006

"The 1918 influenza epidemic-whose cause is sill a matter of debate-killed more Americans in tem months than died in all twentieth century wars combined and killed well over 20 million people worldwide. Gallups Island, now known as Gallop Island, in Boston Harbor was in November and December of 1918 the site of a United States Public Health Service study designed to determine the cause and mode of the spread of the illness. The subjects were prisoners; inmates of Deer Island Naval Prison were subjected to the testing." Myla Goldberg

Lydia Kilkenny was from South Boston. She journeyed over the bridge that separated Southie from Boston, and found a world she wanted to join. She met a young man, Henry Wickett, studying to become a physician, and someone who wrote the most beautiful letters to her. He was of the world she longed to join. They married; Henry became disillusioned with his life and quit medicine, and started to sell a family elixir, Wickett's Remedy. At this time, in 1918 an unknown illness was spreading in Boston, and took the life of Henry. Lydia went home to South Boston, and began to care for the people who were dying from this 'flu'. In a world turned almost unrecognizable by swift and sudden tragedy, Lydia finds herself working as a nurse in an experimental ward dedicated to understanding the raging epidemic -- through the use of human subjects. These volunteers, prisoners of the local naval prison, were injected with blood from someone who had the influenza, and luckily only one young service man died.

The 1918 Influenza Epidemic is told in great detail and spelled out in the form of a story of what happened. The dead also have a part of this story. From the margins come their words. At times, this form of narrative is off-putting, but for the most part, their words gave impetus to the story that was being told. 20 million people died of the Influenza in 1918, and my grandfather was one of them. My grandmother told a tale of suffering and fear. No one knew who would be next. How would she care for her family? She had 4 little children to care for, and she met and married a man who had also lost his mate to the influenza.
While the story of Lydia and her courage in caring for men who were so ill, and the chances she took with her own life is a 'telling' one. I found the addition of the Wickett's Remedy, and its tale to be unsatisfying and not needed in this context. It did not add to the story, and while I understand that these unknown and untested elixirs were popular during this time, a mere mention would have sufficed. Yet as well-researched and polished as the book is, I did nit find that I understood or knew the characters' mindsets. While I admire Lydia, I did not feel that I ever truly knew her.

"Two hurdles confront a novelist who writes about epidemic disease. The first is the Yuck Factor -- as in, "Yuck, who wants to read a book about phlegm?" The second is that the writer will have to kill off a number of characters, and it can be tricky to find the balance between making a character important enough to engage the reader but not so important that her or his demise will destroy the narrative momentum." Geraldine Brooks. Geraldine Brooks in the title of her critique calls this book 'Love In the Time of Influenza', how simple but right.

Recommended for the historical and literary senses. prisrob 11/19/06
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Feb 08, 2013 Dannaca Patterson rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone

Recommended to Dannaca by: Jen

This book wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be. It begins in a very light, conversational way and leads you to believe that it might be a love story. It isn't. Not exactly.

First off, I love, love, love that this book has commentary in the margins. I wish all books had that! It's such a good way to give a story depth and personality. This story also has interesting newspaper snippets and other things that break up the story of main character Lydia Wickett and I loved having those smal...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Audra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another example of the magic performed by a writer who goes to primary sources and other documents to flesh out an idea and then creates a whole world bringing that time (and those characters) to life. How lucky we are to read the products of those people.

Main character: Lydia Kilkenny, an intensely emotional, energetic, bright Boston “Southie” with love of family and place but also with aspirations to move into the larger world. First, in the department store; then marrying Henry Wickett and as...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Wileyacez rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wanted to read one of her books thanks to Decembrists. Very interesting indeed. If I'd done the review right when finished, I'd probably only have given this three stars. Turns out that I appreciate the whole thing more after thinking it over. In some ways this is slice of life in that we are not talking about extraordinary things for the characters. I loved the ghostly commentaries along the side of the text! Put the whole thing into perspective. Like so much of life, this book does not end wit...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Dana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Lydia Kilkenny is a South Bostonian Irish. She dreams of better things and gets a shopgirl's job in a downtown department store. Soon Henry Wickett is buying things in the men's department and hanging around.

Lydia and Henry marry and Lydia seems to be on the way up. She has married into a Boston Brahmin family and Henry is in medical school. Henry becomes disenchanted with medical school and quits. He asks Lydia to come up with a formula for a remedy that he can sell along with an encouraging le...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Tobinsfavorite rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book spent a number of years hovering near the top of my reading list, but it kept getting bumped by other books until finally I just borrowed it from the library even though I was reading something else. For some reason, I thought this book would be about Lydia and Henry and the Remedy during the 1918 flu epidemic, but not very far into the book it became obvious that the book would not be about that at all. At first, I was disappointed, but the unexpected book was very good, engrossing, a...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Kim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction, fiction, historical-fiction, reviewed-for-slj, young-adult-fiction

From December 2005 School Library Journal:
It is 1918 and America is on the brink of entering Europe’s Great War. Lydia Kilkenny, a Boston shopgirl, is swept up in a hurried romance with Henry Wickett, a young medical student who soon after their marriage casts his studies aside in favor of developing a remedy to help rejuvenate people who suffer from “hypochondriacal illnesses.” His mail order business enjoys some success, but when he contracts influenza, Lydia is suddenly left a widow. Before s...more

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Feb 09, 2011 Lindsay rated it 2 of 5 stars

I first read this book a few years ago and always wanted to write something on it. I don’t remember it being the most engrossing book I’ve ever read but there’s an addition to the narrative that’s fascinating.

In Boston in the early twentieth century, a shop girl named Lydia marries above her station to Henry, a medical student from a wealthy family. She’s disappointed, however, when her husband drops out of school to pursue a new venture, a mail-order medicine called Wickett’s Remedy. He’s convi...more I first read this book a few years ago and always wanted to write something on it. I don’t remember it being the most engrossing book I’ve ever read but there’s an addition to the narrative that’s fascinating.

In Boston in the early twentieth century, a shop girl named Lydia marries above her station to Henry, a medical student from a wealthy family. She’s disappointed, however, when her husband drops out of school to pursue a new venture, a mail-order medicine called Wickett’s Remedy. He’s convinced that the real remedy is the personal letters he writes to each person who orders it. The “remedy” described sounds like an early form of soda drink.

Germophobes, turn away. Around about this time, the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918 hits Boston and wipes out friends and family, one by one. Lydia takes work as a nurse while her husband’s dodgy partner runs off with the recipe to the medicine and begins marketing it as QD Soda.

The fascinating part of the novel is the running commentary in the wide margins. Main characters, secondary characters, characters never mentioned anywhere else in the novel—they all add little snippets of info to the third person narrative. On one of Lydia and Henry’s first dates, the story reports that Henry spilled a glass of water while he’s overexcited about something. The notes in the margin read, “Henry remembers Lydia spilling the water.” Later, Henry leaves a note for his wife, which Lydia includes in her version of the story. The notes in the margin report that, as she only read the note once, her recollection is inaccurate, and includes the actual letter.

The weird thing is that I originally thought the author was making a statement about the unreliability of the narrator, but wouldn’t that statement be more effective if the story was told in the first person? It confuses the message a bit when the narrator is supposed to be omniscient.

I remember the plot jumping around a bit, especially near the end but those marginal notes make it worth a read.
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Nov 12, 2010 Dee rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Myla Goldberg has written an interesting book about early 20th century. The story takes place in Boston. Two threads begin with a South Boston girl who has ideas above her place. When she leaves school, she goes to work at a department store in Boston to learn manners, diction and dress. She loves her family and her home, however, and she does not know how much until a chance infatuation of a middle class man leads her into marriage with him. Henry, her husband is a medical student, because his...more Myla Goldberg has written an interesting book about early 20th century. The story takes place in Boston. Two threads begin with a South Boston girl who has ideas above her place. When she leaves school, she goes to work at a department store in Boston to learn manners, diction and dress. She loves her family and her home, however, and she does not know how much until a chance infatuation of a middle class man leads her into marriage with him. Henry, her husband is a medical student, because his middle class parents want him to rise to upper class status. He is a quiet, shy man who hates medical school, and longs to be a journalists --- a career his parents think is beneath him.

Henry quits medical school to start a tonic company, Wickett's Remedy, based on the idea that his letters to his customers are the real curative. He gets Lydia to create a "remedy" for people to buy to get them to ask for his letters. Unfortunately, Henry does not figure out a way to make people want to buy a second bottle to get the second letter. He continues correspondence for free with all his first customers -- thus keeping them in penury. A "friend" tastes the tonic and asks to see it in his pharmacy. That friend is Quienten Dunstan, the man who ultimately takes Lydia's advice and turns the tonic into a soda --- thus making a fortune for him and his heirs. A part of the book is taken up with this story, told in advertisements, and letters from the demented Dunstan, confined to a home for dementia patients at the end of his life. He finally confesses to his perfidy at the 75th birthday party of the soda, thus insuring his confinement away from any public person who would take his claims seriously.

Lydia loses Henry to the Spanish influenza. Her grief is overwhelming. Two years later, as the flu develops into a worldwide plague, we follow her and her Boston family as they go to war --- her beloved brother Micheal dies of the flu before being sent to Europe. We see her attempt to help in the local hospital as it is overwhelmed with flu victems. A further plot involves a wierd experiement on an island in the Boston bay where Dr. Gold, and his team attempt to discover how the flue is spread. Lydia becomes involved in this as well. Goldberg adds marginalia that give "true" accounts of info. seen from the perception of the books characters --- their "after death" perceptions. An interesting way to keep the reader attached to the present. Keeps the reader from "falling into" the story, however. (less)

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Nov 10, 2010 Buried In Print rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

On the first page of Wickett's Remedy, you (a) meet Lydia Kilkenny, (b) find yourself in a historical novel, with horse-drawn drays and cobblestones, and (c) see a note in the right-hand margin. If you're like me, you saw the note first and it made you flip through the book to see if there are others. Indeed, there are.

In fact, at first I wondered if Wickett's Remedy was actually non-fiction because the notes reminded me of academic writing, with so many important bits at the bottoms of pages a...more

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Sep 10, 2009 Diane rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: disappointing-reads

With the re-emergence of the H1N1 or swine flu virus, Wickett's Remedy is a timely read. Two stories, one modern and one historical with the common thread of the elixer called Wickett's Remedy. Its historical setting: Boston and an offshore military prison colony, where prisoners to be exposed to the flu. Get it and live - and they're free. Lydia Wickett's husband dies of the flu just as Wickett's Remedy takes off. Her restlessness leads her to nursing at the military prison. as it's set near th...more

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Aug 15, 2009 Brita added it

"Lydia's favorite part of any parade was the marching band. Marches on the Victrola had no flash or strut: the drums did not electrify, the trumpets did not exalt, and the tubas did not pull the strings of her legs in time to the music's promise of good news just out of reach. She loved the erect carriage of the marchers in their impeccable uniforms and the proud way they held their instruments, as though each trumpet and flute and drum were incontrovertible evidence of all that had gone right w...more

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Jul 10, 2009 Geraldine rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: do-books-on-tape-count

Finished listening to this after a few road trips. I enjoyed "Bee Season" much more--I think Goldberg bit off more than she could chew with this one. Her first novel was an intense study of a dysfunctional family, and her focus and writing talent really shone. "Wickett's Remedy" tried to be way too many things--history, social critique, epic, experimental combination of fiction and primary sources. The effect diluted the main character, Lydia, and the reader never really knows enough about her t...more

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Feb 03, 2009 Christine rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: don-t-bother

The story is about a young woman growing up in Southie Boston. She is determined to break out of poverty, marry, and live a respectable life. She succeeds, however her husband joins the war effort and dies. The main character is forced to move back home with her family and pick up the pieces. Her story about how she picks up the pieces is a good one, and I won't spoil that part.

Here's why the story got a bad review. This is one of those books with commentary in the margins. I'm sure Goldberg tho...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine added it · review of another edition

Critics expecting another Bee Season were disappointed; the more open-minded critics (or those wanting a good history of the 1918 epidemic) found great talent and originality in this sprawling, overstuffed book. The great point of debate centers on the newspaper articles, letters, and Greek chorus that interrupt to critique the accuracy of Lydia's memories. While inventive, this technique at times overwhelms the storyline; ironically, some critics saw the dead voices as more alive than Lydia, de

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Jan 19, 2012 Lorraine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: z2012, american, historical-fiction

The best audio book I've ever read, and by far the best "read by the author" edition I've ever come across. The story itself is interesting, following a young lady through her early career as a sales clerk, young wife, and then discovering nursing during the influenza epidemic. The Wickett's Remedy aspect is more of a subplot. However, the way the Wickett's Remedy story is told is really unique and interesting. The audio makes this book so much more interesting than it would have been to read --...more

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May 07, 2007 Pat Cal rated it 5 of 5 stars

I thought this was absolutely charming. The writing was intelligent and had depth, yet wasn't too flowery. The plot went quietly for a while, and then things started to come together at the end. I enjoyed hearing the comments of those who had passed, as they were fiesty and very human. (Notice, we never heard Lydia's comments.) I also enjoyed how the historical background made dry facts come alive.

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Nov 20, 2010 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, historical-fiction

I really, really liked this book. Unlike some, I was a fan of the margin notes. A little distracting, maybe, but many gave a sense of skipping to the end that I loved, as I am a professed skip-to-the-end-to-make-sure-it-ends-the-way-I-want kind of reader. I liked the characters, I liked the period, I liked the storyline. However, I do agree with many other posters, there are just too many storylines! Maybe this could be a trilogy - Lydia and Henry, Lydia fights the flu epidemic and Lydia fights...more

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Feb 12, 2010 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Julie by: Book Lover's Calendar 2008

Shelves: audiobooks, 2010

I enjoyed this story very much. It reminded me somewhat of Connie Willis' Doomsday Book and her description of the Plague Years in England's Middle Ages. Wickett's Remedy focuses several characters during the years of The Great War (WWI) and the epidemic of Spanish Influenza. Beautiful writing! The unusual format of interjected newspaper articles, letters, snippets of conversations, and newsletters punctuates the captivating narrative of South Boston's Lydia Kilkenny Wickett, a character as memo...more

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Oct 06, 2010 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobooks

I was lukewarm for Myla Goldberg's first novel and the same was true for her second. It's not that she's bad at writing. It's that something about the form of her novels really rubs me the wrong way. This one worked well when it was actually being a novel. But all the little extra scenes that left the narrative were distracting and didn't add much. Also the dead serving as a peanut gallery of sorts, always tossing in their two cents on what actually happened, similarly falls flat.

It's a shame b...more

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Feb 12, 2009 Jeff rated it 3 of 5 stars

Wickett’s Remedy brings us back to Boston in the early twentieth century and into the life of Lydia Wickett, an Irish-American Southie whose world is turned upside-down by the 1918 flu epidemic. Lydia dreams of greatness after she marries an affluent medical student, but her life takes a dramatic turn after her new husband dies and she finds herself working in an experimental hospital to fight the formidable influenza epidemic.

Like Atwood and Kingsolver, Goldberg does not tell Lydia’s story so m...more

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May 20, 2011 Meganne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I found this book to be charming, much like one of the reviewers before me. From the very beginning “charming” is the word that I began using to describe it. Having never read Myla Goldberg’s work, I didn’t have any expectations when I picked up this book off of the bargain shelf for $5.

The historical nerd in me greatly appreciated the amount of research that obviously went into this story. From the primary-sourced newspaper articles to simply the little details, I was pleased to find an author...more I found this book to be charming, much like one of the reviewers before me. From the very beginning “charming” is the word that I began using to describe it. Having never read Myla Goldberg’s work, I didn’t have any expectations when I picked up this book off of the bargain shelf for $5.

The historical nerd in me greatly appreciated the amount of research that obviously went into this story. From the primary-sourced newspaper articles to simply the little details, I was pleased to find an author concerned with accuracy for the specific period.

There were a few points where things got a little disjointed because of the inclusion of song lyrics or the random newspaper article, though. Combined with long newsletter articles about QD Soda, which was my least favorite part of the book, and pure dialog with no action or quotation marks I sometimes felt there may have been a few too many stories trying to be told. At least in the format they were told. It may partially be because I read before bed and may be tired, but the conversation-only parts of the book got a little confusing at times. I struggled to figure out not only who was talking (sometimes no one involved in the main storyline and other times they were) but also how many people were involved in the conversation. I love dialog, but I found myself getting frustrated by the way it was presented.

Finally, I hated the fact that the book just stopped. Reading the sub-stories gave you a halfway decent idea of what happened in the future, but that wasn’t really enough for me. At all. I liked where the storyline was going, and I found myself frantically looking for at least an epilogue. No dice.

All-in-all, I wanted to be able to rate this book higher, because I did enjoy most of it. But now that I’ve thought it over a little, the frustration that I was left with did make this a less enjoyable read. I’d still recommend it to friends who were interested in the time period for what that’s worth.
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May 16, 2012 Bob rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lydia’s help in formulating it, develops Wickett’s Remedy.
Other than a favorable taste there is no medicinal value to the Remedy but rather it is a vehicle for Henry’s accompanying feel good letter. With modest sales Henry takes on a partner in the soda fountain business with the partner returning a percentage of sales to Henry. Enter the Spanish Flue which soon claims Henry and sends Lydia back to her home in “Southie”. Interspersed with Lydia’s story is the story of QD Soda (developed from Wic...more

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Mar 15, 2012 Maggie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: abandoned, fiction

First, I must say that Myla Goldberg writes very well. I love both her language and structure. I very much appreciated that here she was spreading her wings and challenging both herself and the reader. Unfortunately, although I loved the time period she set this book in and the crisis she was highlighting, I never warmed to the character of Lydia. I did warm to the couple, Lydia and Henry, but after Henry was gone I couldn't sustain my interest. Also, I felt Goldberg was too ambitious in this bo...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Maria rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wickett's Remedy is a lovely book about finding meaning in life after experiencing great loss. I liked Lydia and Henry. It took me a few pages to get into the story, but once they met each other I was hooked.

I liked the notes in the margin, giving perspectives of other characters. They were a good reminder that there are often many sides to a story. The notes implied that the narrator was telling Lydia's version of the story, but it was told in the third person as she was not always present.

The...more

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Feb 10, 2012 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Wickett's Remedy is a story of the 1918 influenza epidemic. This epidemic is generally thought to have started in the United States and then was shipped overseas with soldiers on their way to fight battles of WWI.

Lydia, an Irish-American shopgirl marries Henry Wickett, a shy medical student and son of the Boston Brahmin family. Soon after the marriage, Henry quits medical school and goes to work for his father. Henry wants to develop a mail order medicine called Wickett's Remedy. He wants Lydia...more

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Jan 10, 2009 Julianna rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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About Myla Goldberg

Myla Goldberg is the bestselling author of Bee Season and Wickett's Remedy, as well as a children's book, Catching the Moon. The paperback edition of her newest novel, The False Friend, will be coming out this fall. She also plays accordion and banjo and sings as part of the Brooklyn art-punk band, The Walking Hellos.

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