Meg Little Reilly Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Meg Little Reilly is a reputed American novelist of suspense, general fiction, mystery, contemporary, and romance stories. She has written a few standalone books in her writing career, including Everything That Follows, The Misfortunes of Family, and We Are Unprepared. Her books have succeeded worldwide and have achieved immense popularity. Reilly likes to describe herself as a quilter, writer, banjo player, environmentalist, swimmer, and hiker. Before she decided to settle down as a full-time writer, she worked as a deputy associate director at the Management & Budget Office in the White House during the rule of President Obama. Prior to that, Reilly held the post of the United States Treasury’s spokesperson. In addition to all the other credits to her name, Reilly is known to be an essayist, outdoor enthusiast, public radio commentator, and writer-in-residence at Bennington College.

Reilly earned her bachelor of arts degree from Vermont University and her master of arts degree from the University of George Washington. Author Reilly was brought up in Brattleboro’s funky hamlet, where she used to write heartfelt, but terrible poetry while roaming in the nearby woods. After spending several years in national politics and living in the city, she has returned to live in rural Vermont. When Reilly is not busy with her writing projects, she likes to play outside in the company of her family members. While growing up, she was very close to her place and knew it to be a culturally rich and bucolic place. But, for setting her story, she required a place that the public was well aware of. So, Reilly decided to set all 3 of her books in New England. She claims that place plays an important part in her books.

Locations having distinct identities often interest her and that is why she looks to set stories in locations that reflect specific images even in those people who have not visited them. New England is one such place that Reilly thinks has the quality that makes it suitable to be used as a setting. Some of the favorite books of author Reilly about love, family, and marriage include those written by authors Emily Dickinson, Frank O’Hara, Evelyn Waugh, Mary Karr, Jonathan Franzen, Arundhati Roy, Beverly Cleary, Louisa May Alcott, etc. Reilly says that she is always fascinated by stories of the apocalypse. In her book We Are Unprepared, she has talked about the everyday preparedness of people during times of crisis. It mainly deals with the cultural and emotional preparedness.

Reilly has depicted a couple at the story’s center that never bothered to look after their marriage’s fractures. As a result, they are left most vulnerable during fearful times. One aspect of the book also covers the topic of people’s commitment towards changing courses with the changing climate. Reilly believes that as voters, eaters, drivers, and consumers, people could do more to put a halt to climate change’s harmful effects. The sole purpose of writing such a novel was to tell a meaningful story. She also intended to make climate change’s abstract idea resonate with the readers on a personal level. Reilly says she is wary of those stories that offer prescription or solution. Her belief is that fiction’s great strength is facilitating empathy. Currently, she is having her hands full with multiple novels under development. Also, there are many stories floating in her head that she intends to transform into novels in the future. Although all her future books are going to have a different set of main characters and different landscapes, one thing that is surely going to be a prominent figure is the natural world.

A widely popular book penned by author Meg Little Reilly is entitled ‘We Are Unprepared’. It was released by the Mira publication in 2016. Reilly has mentioned the primary characters in this novel as Pia, Ash, and several others. The setting is done in Vermont and Brooklyn. Initially, it is shown that Pia and Ash move out of Brooklyn and take shelter in rural Vermont. They look forward to having a fresh start in Vermont’s bucolic hills. Pia hopes to build a mindful lifestyle, a beautiful farmhouse, and have children with her husband Ash in the next few years. However, just three months after their relocation, they come to know that a devastating storm is about to hit the town in a couple of months. The tight-knit rural town gets divided because of the fear of the upcoming disaster. Even the crack in Ash & Pia’s marriage becomes clearly visible.

Ash sides with the people who believe in standing together in such testing times and working together to overcome the disaster, while Pia chooses to be with those who want to fight for their survival against others and protect themselves by going off the grid. The town that was once a place filled with yuppie transplants, beloved rednecks, and old farm families gets divided into religious fanatics, government tools, and paranoid preppers. Pia & Ash wonder how they are going to face the disaster and save their marriage from breaking off.

Another exciting novel in Reilly’s career is called ‘The Misfortunes of Family’. It was also published by Mira Books in February 2020. The central characters created by Reilly in this novel include Spenser, Philip, JJ, Charlie, John Bright, etc. Initially, John Bright is introduced as a retired senator, who has 4 adult sons. All four of his sons carry out their duties with loyalty and head to their lake house with their respective life partners for the annual family reunion. This family is seen as a symbol of perfectness and pride. Its members are fun, competitive, attractive, as well as terrible. They seem to have everything in life, except the vision to see things clearly. John Bright reveals to his sons and daughters-in-law, that he has called a producer to film a documentary on the family. Soon after, the Brights begin to drift away and get engulfed in petty jealousies. The brothers declare a fight among themselves, while their father hopes to go for one more political run. Later, family secrets begin to come out, thereby dividing the once proud and now dysfunctional family in many parts.