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The Half Moon

A Novel

by Mary Beth Keane

Length 10 hours 23 minutes

Language English

Narrators Norbert Leo Butz & Rebecca Lowman

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Bookseller recommendation

“I so desperately want Malcolm and Jess to be happy, almost as much as they yearn to be. Married and living in the small town where they were raised, their marriage is fractured under the burdens that come with life. They do right, they do wrong - will they survive it all, together? I like these people! You will too! ”
— Belinda • Quail Ridge Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Long time couple Jess and Malcolm’s marriage is imploding against the backdrop of Malcolm’s failing bar, The Half Moon, and Jess’s struggle with infertility. Can they come back together and give their marriage another chance or do they walk away? Keane weaves their story with a mixture of secrets, humor, and a strong sense of the Irish community where the novel takes place, it’s an amazing read.”
— Kathleen • A Great Good Place for Books

Summary
About the author

“An insightful, riveting study of marriage.” —People

From the bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes, a masterful and “absorbing” (The New York Times) novel about a couple in a small town navigating the complexities of marriage, family, and longing.

Malcolm Gephardt, handsome and gregarious longtime bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss finally retires, Malcolm stretches to buy the place. He sees unquantifiable magic and potential in the Half Moon and hopes to transform it into a bigger success, but struggles to stay afloat.

His smart and confident wife, Jess, has devoted herself to her law career. After years of trying for a baby, she is facing the idea that motherhood may not be in the cards for her. Like Malcolm, she feels her youth beginning to slip away and wonders how to reshape her future.

“A quick and impactful read that will stay with you long after you finish it” (theSkimm), The Half Moon takes place over the course of one week when Malcolm learns shocking news about Jess, a patron of the bar goes missing, and a blizzard hits the town of Gillam, trapping everyone in place. With a deft eye and generous spirit, Mary Beth Keane explores the disappointments and unexpected consolations of midlife, the many forms forgiveness can take, the complicated intimacy of small-town living, and what it means to be a family.

Fiction Fiction - Literary

Mary Beth Keane attended Barnard College and the University of Virginia, where she received an MFA. She was awarded a John S. Guggenheim fellowship for fiction writing, and has received citations from the National Book Foundation, PEN America, and the Hemingway Society. She is the author of The Walking People, Fever, and Ask Again, Yes—a New York Times bestseller and a Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Summer Reads Pick. Ask Again, Yes has been sold in twenty-two languages. She lives in New York with her family.