Nancy Thayer Books In Order

Publication Order of Hot Flash Club Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Nancy Thayer is a bestselling author of more than 30 novels. She was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1943. She lives in Massachusetts with her second husband, Charley Walters. She has two children, Joshua Thayer and Samantha Wilde. Her daughter has followed in her footsteps, also becoming a successful author.

Ms. Thayer earned a BA and MA in English literature from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. She taught English at various colleges before having children and beginning her writing career.

She has lived in Amsterdam, Paris, and Helsinki. She credits this exposure to different cultures as inspiring her in various ways and exerting a strong influence on her books.

Nancy Thayer was interested in writing about lives of ordinary women. While browsing through her own diaries, she realized that her life story could be a novel. When she was twenty, she ran away from home to marry her psychology professor. As she recalled the exciting and romantic moments of her life, she decided to write a novel loosely based on her experiences.

Her first novel, Stepping, was published by Doubleday in January 1980, before the advent of emails and texts; however, she kept every single letter and card sent by her readers and has them to this day. Her books have been translated into many languages.

She began writing Stepping in 1978, about a woman with a lover, professor husband, two children and two stepdaughters. She invented characters to bring drama to her story, but readers could also relate to the domestic difficulties that were portrayed in a humorous light.

The story depicts the struggle of a woman, Zelda, a college student who fell in love with her professor, Charlie, who loves travel. His career eventually takes them Finland, where Zelda exists in a house without TV, radio, or a record player, yet her husband is celebrated as a scholar.

By the time Stepping was being published, she had completed half of her second novel, Three Women at the Water’s Edge. The story has three main characters, a mother, Margaret; and her two daughters, Daisy and Dale. They are each poised on the edge of major watershed moments in their lives.

One of her novels, Spirit Lost, had a film debut in 1997, starring James Avery, Leon Robinson, Regina Taylor, and Deacon Dawson. When a painter and his wife move into an old island house, the spirit of a widow haunts the young couple and seduces the painter. While writing this novel, Ms. Thayer relates that she was dealing with the loneliness and stress of a new life and entirely new environment. That emotion became the basis of the novel. After Spirit Lost, she has gone on to write many more successful novels.

3 Responses to “Nancy Thayer”

1. Sherry Harrris: 3 months ago

   As I am not a reader I am so loving your books and I truly thank you !!! Found it at by chance at a local bookstore and have shared with others!

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2. Judith D Browning: 4 months ago

   Loved the HOT Flash Club. Please let’s have more of this humor…laughed out loud every day!!!

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3. Janet Wall: 5 years ago

   when will we see more of the Hot Flash Club?

   Reply