Maile Meloy – författare

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Do Not Become Alarmed, written and read by Maile Meloy.When Liv and Nora decide to take their husbands and children on a holiday cruise, everyone is thrilled. The ship''s comforts and possibilities seem infinite. But when they all go ashore in beautiful Central America, a series of minor mishaps lead the families further from the ship''s safety. One minute the children are there, and the next they''re gone.What follows is a heart-racing story told from the perspectives of the adults and the children, as the distraught parents - now turning on one another and blaming themselves - try to recover their children and their shattered lives.

But Benjamin has also been experimenting with a magical new formula that allows him to communicate with Janie across the globe. When Benjamin discovers that she''s in trouble, he calls on their friend Pip for help. The three friends are thrown into a desperate chase around the world to find one another, while unraveling the mystery of what threatens them all.  

Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction''Wise, witty, and beautifully written, Liars and Saints is that rare and wondrous thing: a literary novel you don''t want to put down'' Helen FieldingLiars and Saints is an utterly compelling portrait of a family, the twists and turns of their lives unravelled with extraordinary sensitivity and understanding. By turns laugh aloud funny and unbearably moving, it marks the beginning of a stunning literary career.Set in California, the narrative follows four generations of the Santerre family from World War II to the present, as they navigate a succession of life-changing events. It is guaranteed to be loved by all those who devoured The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

Selected for Richard & Judy''s Summer Read, Maile Meloy''s brilliant novel, Liars and Saints, was acclaimed by readers and reviewers alike. In deceptively straightforward writing, Meloy depicted the story of the Santerre family with remarkable insight and perception, creating ''an emotional resonance that lasts long after the last page'' (Daily Mail).This same talent is again on display in these dazzling stories. Whether Meloy is describing a soldier''s kiss in wartime London, a best friend''s funeral or a young girl''s determination to hang on to her virginity, the result is startling, fresh and unforgettable.

Brilliantly entertaining, A Family Daughter might also be the most insightful novel about families and love that you will read this year.It''s 1979, and seven-year-old Abby, the youngest member of the close-knit Santerre family, is trapped indoors with the chicken pox during a heat wave. The events set in motion that summer will span decades and continents and change the Santerres forever. A rich, full novel about passion and desire, fear and betrayal, A Family Daughter illuminates both the joys and complications of contemporary life, and the relationship between truth and fiction.