Dear Strangers - by Meg Mullins (Paperback)

About the Book

A luminous, moving portrait of grief and atonement, romance and longing, "Dear Strangers" unearths the possibilities of hope and renewal in the unexpected bonds forged with family and strangers alike.

Book Synopsis

The acclaimed author of The Rug Merchant once again "empowers us to seek the remarkable in what we all too often overlook" (Albuquerque Journal)

As children, Oliver and Mary Finley awaited the arrival of their adopted baby brother-until their father's death shattered everything. Dear Strangers unfolds twenty-one years later, when attempts at a family reunion take a shocking turn, revealing hidden truths about the southwestern town where all of them came of age. Luminously written, with the taut emotional suspense of Dan Chaon and Kazuo Ishiguro, Meg Mullins weaves multiple perspectives into a masterful portrait of a community and the consequences of destiny and choice, grief and atonement, and the unexpected bonds formed with family and strangers alike.

Review Quotes

"This novel is a wonder: compelling, surprising, and peopled by vividly drawn and original characters who remind us that the most powerful stories can be the ones we tell ourselves."
-Ann Packer, author of The Dive from Clausen's Pier and Songs Without Words

"Dear Strangers is both lively and sober, engaging and thoughtfully provocative . . . [Mullins] empowers us to seek the remarkable in what we all too often overlook."
-Robert Woltman, Albuquerque Journal

About the Author

Meg Mullins earned her MFA at Columbia. The story that formed the basis of this novel appeared in the Best American Short Stories in 2002.