Clive Starling has been hallucinating small animals, as well as having visions of the ghost of a long-dead naturalist, Ernest Harold Baynes, once known for letting wild animals live in his house. A medical school dropout, she’s come back to small-town Everton, New Hampshire, to care for her father, who is dying from a mysterious brain disease. Natural-born healer Emma Starling once had big plans for her life, but she’s lost her way. Both funny and sad, the kind of story we like best. It was a source of entertainment at Maple Street Cemetery.

Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize.ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Book Riot You’ll fall in love with the offbeat cast of characters (both living and dead) and find yourself rooting for them right through the last page.”- Good Housekeeping (Book Club pick)Ī lost young woman returns to small-town New Hampshire under the strangest of circumstances in this one-of-a-kind novel of life, death, and whatever comes after from the acclaimed author of Rabbit Cake. “This tragicomic novel is heartfelt, touching, and delightfully quirky. She now lives in a small town in Massachusetts with her husband, daughter, and darling border collie, Mr. When she began writing Unlikely Animals, she was living in the groundskeeper’s house in a cemetery. She studied philosophy at Hamilton College, has an MA from Middlebury College, and an MFA from the University of Alabama.

She has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Associates of the Boston Public Library. Join Annie Hartnett to discuss “Unlikely Animals.”Īnnie Hartnett is the author of Rabbit Cake, which was listed as one of Kirkus Reviews’s Best Books of 2017 and a finalist for the New England Book Award.

Annie hartnett unlikely animals