Seating Arrangements

(Paperback)

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The New York Times bestselling author of Great Circle

Joyously good DAILY MAIL

A ferociously clever comedy of manners GUARDIAN
A wise, sophisticated and funny novel about family, fidelity, class and crisis MARIE CLAIRE

A well-observed, hilarious, yet moving novel WOMAN & HOME

New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2012 Dylan Thomas Prize and 2012 L.A. Times First Novel Prize

The Van Meters have gathered at their family retreat on the New England island of Waskeke to celebrate the marriage of daughter Daphne to an impeccably appropriate young man. The weekend is full of lobster and champagne, salt air and practiced bonhomie, but long-buried discontent and simmering lust seep through the cracks in the revelry.

Winn Van Meter, father-of-the-bride, has spent his life following the rules of the east coast upper crust, but now, just shy of his sixtieth birthday, he must finally confront his failings, his desires, and his own humanity

Maggie Shipstead is a hugely talented young writer definitely one to watch GRAZIA

Distinctive and dazzling The world has found a remarkable, humane new voice to explain us to ourselves Allison Pearson

Reviews

Joyously good Daily Mail

A ferociously clever comedy of manners Guardian

Shipsteads sophisticated and summery debut more than lives up to the hype Independent

Distinctive and dazzling The world has found a remarkable, humane new voice to explain us to ourselves Allison Pearson, Telegraph

A wise, sophisticated and funny novel about family, fidelity, class and crisis Marie Claire

Author Bio

Maggie Shipstead graduated from Harvard in 2005 and earned an M.F.A at the Iowa Writers Workshop. She was also a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Her debut novel, Seating Arrangements, won the Dylan Thomas Prize and the LA Times Prize for First Fiction. Astonish Me is her second novel.