Mary McGarry Morris

Mary McGarry Morris is an American novelist, short story author, and playwright from New England. She uses its towns as settings for her works. In 1991, Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times described Morris as "one of the most skillful new writers at work in America today"; The Washington Post has described her as a "superb storyteller"; and The Miami Herald has called her "one of our finest American writers."

She has been most often compared to John Steinbeck and Carson McCullers. Although her writing style is different, Morris also has been compared to William Faulkner for her character-driven storytelling. She was a finalist for the National Book Award and PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. As of 2011, Morris has published eight novels, some of which were bestsellers, and numerous short stories. She also has written a play about the insanity trial of Mary Todd Lincoln.

Vanished, her first novel was written over ten years; only her husband and children knew that she was working at writing. Numerous publishers and agents rejected it before agent Jean Naggar helped her sell it to Viking Press. Nevertheless, it was published in 1988 to favorable reviews and was a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Her 1991 novel A Dangerous Woman was named by Time as one of its Five Best Novels of the Year and as one of the best books of the year by American Library Association (ALA) Library Journal. In addition, Morris won the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Award based on A Dangerous Woman. The novel was adapted for a 1993 movie of the same name, which starred Debra Winger, Gabriel Byrne, David Strathairn, Barbara Hershey, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Her 1995 novel (her third), Songs in Ordinary Time, sold one and one-half million copies, was a New York Times Bestseller, and a selection of Oprah's Book Club. It was adapted as a CBS television movie starring Sissy Spacek and Beau Bridges.

Her fourth novel, Fiona Range (2000), was published critically. A New York Times Book Review reviewer stated Morris could "bring the ordinary to life with the sheer clarity of vision. She knows how a house with children sounds at night, what the heat and bustle in a kitchen feel like before a family dinner, and how indiscretions arise in a dining room when everyone is flushed with wine."

Morris' fifth novel, A Hole in the Universe (2004), tells the story of a man returning to his community after serving 25 years in prison for murder. Her sixth novel, The Lost Mother (2005), was written from the perspective of a 12-year-old boy. He recounts his life after his mother leaves him, his sister, and his father amid the Great Depression. The Boston Globe described the book as "wonderful and absorbing," The Washington Post wrote, "The Lost Mother is the quietest, subtlest novel that ever kept me up into the small hours of the night, unable to look away."

Morris published her seventh novel, The Last Secret (2009); in an interview on NPR, she said that the idea came as she was listening to the song "Gimme Some Lovin'," written by Steve Winwood and members of the Spencer Davis Group. The Last Secret depicts the unraveling of the life of an accomplished suburban mother who discovers her husband's betrayal, known by others at the time, a shameful secret that surfaces from her past.

Morris' eighth novel was Light from a Distant Star (2011).[18] It drew comparisons to Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. It tells of a brutal murder and family love. At the novel's center is 13-year-old Nellie Peck, a girl who wrestles with the meanings of loyalty, love, and truth.