Maggie Shipstead graduated from Harvard in 2005 and earned an M. F. A at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She was also a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University.
The Van Meters have gathered at their family retreat on the New England island of Waskeke to celebrate the marriage of daughter Daphne to an impeccably appropriate young man. The weekend is full of lobster and champagne, salt air and practiced bonhomie, but long-buried discontent and simmering lust seep through the cracks in the revelry.
Winn Van Meter, father-of-the-bride, has spent his life following the rules of the east coast upper crust, but now, just shy of his sixtieth birthday, he must finally confront his failings, his desires, and his own humanity.
‘Irresistible … her prose is joyously good’
DAILY MAIL
‘A ferociously clever comedy of manners’
GUARDIAN
‘A wise, sophisticated and funny novel about family, fidelity, class and crisis’
MARIE CLAIRE
‘Well-observed, hilarious, yet moving’
WOMAN & HOME
‘Definitely one to watch’
GRAZIA
‘Maggie Shipstead is an outrageously gifted writer’
Richard Russo, author of
‘Startling beauty’
NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
Seating Arrangements
Maggie Shipstead
The Borough Press
an imprint of HarperCollins
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2012
Copyright © Maggie Shipstead 2012
Cover layout design © HarperCollins
Maggie Shipstead asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
‘The Waste Land’ taken from
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780007467730