Ann Hood Books In Order

Publication Order of The Treasure Chest Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Ann Hood
Author Ann Hood earned her BA in English from the University of Rhode Island. Afterwards, she worked for TWA, a defunct airline, as a flight attendant. She lived in St. Louis and Boston, and later moved to New York City. She went to graduate school at New York University, studying American Literature.

She started writing “Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine”, her first novel, in 1983 when she was working as a flight attendant and going to graduate school, writing when she could during train rides to JFK airport or in the galleys of the plane as the passengers slept.

While on a furlough from the airline, she worked at the Spring Street Bookstore in Soho and Tony Roma’s while writing the novel. Like a lot of her work, “Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine” draws upon her own life.

The novel began life as a series of short stories about three women that attended college together during the sixties. One year before, her brother, Skip, died in a freak accident and Hood had been struggling how to cope with his loss. At a writer’s conference, she was convinced by a writer named Nicholas Delbanco that what she was writing was really a novel, and from there she started connecting the stories to each other.

The book was published by Bantam Books in 1987 as one of the launch titles for their original paperback series, Bantam New Fiction.

Her career as a flight attendant ended in the year 1986 when TWA went on strike and the flight attendants quickly found they were “replaced”. Since she had more time to spend on her writing, her essays and stories started showing up in Story, Mademoiselle, Glamour, Self, Redbook, New Women, among some others.

In 2002, Grace (Ann’s five year old daughter) died of a virulent form of strep, and for two years after, she found herself unable to write anything or even read. She took solace in learning to knit and be in a knitting group. Gradually, she made her way back to her craft, penning short essays about her grief and Grace.

To make sense of this grief, she started writing “The Knitting Circle” late in 2004, about a woman whose five year old daughter dies from meningitis. The woman joins a knitting group of others that struggled to heal from their loss.

Her bestselling memoir, called “Comfort: A Journey Through Grief” chronicles these struggles after her daughters sudden death. The book was named one of the top ten non-fiction books of 2008 by Entertainment Weekly and was a New York Times Editor’s Choice.

She has two children: Sam and Annabelle, and is married to a writer named Michael Ruhlman.

Ann’s short stories and essays have appeared in many anthologies, journals, and magazines, including Ploughshares, The Paris Review, and Tin House. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times’ Op-Ed page, Home Economics column.

Ann is the recipient of a Best American Spiritual Writing Award, two Pushcart Prizes, a Best American Travel Writing Award, a Best American Food Writing Award, and the Paul Bowles Prize for Short Fiction.

“The Knitting Circle” is a stand alone novel that was released in the year 2007. Mary Baxter, after the death of her only child, joins the knitting circle in Providence, Rhode Island, as a way to fill the lonely days and empty hours. The other women welcome her in, each teaching Mary a brand new knitting technique, and while they do, reveal their own personal tales of love, loss, and hope.

Mary is eventually able to tell them her own tale of grief and doing so helps reclaims her love for her husband, faces some hard truths about her relationship with her mom, and finds the spark of life again.

“The Obituary Writer” is a stand alone novel that was released in the year 2013. The day that John F. Kennedy was inaugurated, Claire, who is a young wife and mom obsessed with Jackie’s glamour, struggles over the choice of staying in a loveless yet secure marriage or to follow the guy she loves and whose baby she might be carrying.

Decades prior, in the year 1919, Vivien Lowe, who is an obituary writer, is attempting to find her lover, who vanishing during the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. By telling the stories of the dead, she not only helps other people with their grief but also starts understanding the devastation of her own horrible loss as well. The surprising connection between each of these two women are going to change Claire’s life in extraordinary and unexpected ways.

Part love story and part literary mystery, this novel examines expectations of love and marriage, the roles of moms and wives, and the emotions of hope, grief, and regret.

“The Book That Matters Most” is a stand alone novel that was released in the year 2016. An enthralling book about loss, secrets, love, friendship, and the healing power of literature.

Ava’s marriage of twenty-five years has fallen apart, and her two grown kids pursue lives of their own out of the country. Ava joins a book club, not just for her love of reading but also out of sheer desperation for companionship. The goal of the group throughout the year is for each of the members to present a novel that matters most to them.

Ava rediscovers a mysterious novel from her childhood, one that helped her through the traumas of the untimely deaths of both her mom and sister. Alternating with Ava’s tale is that of Maggie, Ava’s troubled daughter, who descends into a destructive relationship with an older man while living with an older guy.

Ava’s mission to find that book and its mysterious author takes her on a quest that unravels the secrets of her past and offers to her and Maggie the opportunity to remake their lives.

The book club discussions throughout the novel are very enlightening and intriguing, and it becomes tough to figure out which book you yourself would choose as the novel that means the most to you to share with a book club.

One Response to “Ann Hood”

1. Holly: 2 years ago

   I bought your book, Fly Girl, at ORD airport:) I felt like I was living your life. I really enjoyed it! I look forward to reading more of your books! Thank you!

   Reply