The National Review
“In her smart, insightful new novel, Kane subverts the ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ mantra with a bit of E. M. Forster — ‘Only connect.'”
BookPage
Rules for Visiting “is a 21st-century novel for those with old-fashioned sensibilities.”
Library Journal, STARRED REVEW
“Kane’s delightful tale celebrates friendship, family, love, joy in the ordinary, finding peace, and connecting with those around us. Highly recommended for fans of humorous, touching stories about friendship and self-discovery.”
Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“In the age of Facebook, the true nature of friendship can seem muddled . . . [May] voices the doubts and dreams of any woman who has questioned what it means to be a true friend. Rich in subtexts and lush imagery, Kane’s novel is a sure bet for lively book discussions”
RULES FOR VISITING was named an Indie Next title for May!
Here is the citation: “A skillful writer can show how things that seem unrelated are actually intertwined. In this way, Kane quietly reminds us that friendships and plants may be deeply rooted but need tending to bloom completely, that words matter, that going back to their roots may change how we think about what we say, and that a quiet life can be a full one. This gentle book grows on you (the puns just keep coming), but it is a refreshing change from the stresses of our digital age or the angst of so many recent books about contemporary life. Entertaining and erudite, I highly recommend this book.” —Ann Carlson, Waterfront Books, Georgetown, SC. Thanks to all the booksellers around the country who nominated the book. I’m thrilled. I love independent bookstores very much.
Southern Living Magazine
Southern Living Magazine put Rules for Visiting on its list of best books for Spring 2019, calling it “irresistable.”
Publisher’s Weekly
“In Kane’s impeccably written and surprisingly moving second novel…May’s journey is lovely and deeply affecting.”
Kirkus Reviews
A good review from Kirkus is always a relief. On Rules for Visiting: “Engagingly cleareyed prose about a winningly eccentric narrator in love with trees and literature.”
Slate
I wrote about what struck me most during the final Kavanaugh hearing.
Zyzzyva
A new short story called “Dirt Church” will appear in the Winter 2019 issue of Zyzzyva.
New novel!
I sold my second novel, Rules for Visiting, to Penguin Press in the US and Granta Books in the UK. It will be published in May 2019 (and in the UK shortly thereafter). It’s the story of May Attaway, who, at 40, worries if “friends are the family we choose,” as the adage goes, she hasn’t paid enough attention. She embarks on an odyssey of sorts, visiting each of her old friends, one by one, over the course of a year. Trees are important to the story (for reasons I can’t reveal) and the extraordinary writer/artist Edward Carey has done tree drawings to illustrate the book. I am so excited to share these when I can. More soon about the novel as things start to happen. Cheers!