I settled in with The Uninvited Guests thinking I knew what kind of Edwardian pleasures were in store: the fraught dinner party in an endangered, rambling house, the feuding family, the rich suitor, the disruptive visitors. The novel has all… — Maile Meloy Copy Share Image
The force with which he wanted it both ways made him grit his teeth. What kind of fool wanted it only one way? — Maile Meloy Copy Share Image
“He held his hands tightly together and cursed his daughter for bringing the terrible world, with its humiliation and longing, back to his door.” — Maile Meloy Copy Share Image
When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,… — Maile Meloy Copy Share Image
“It takes experience to know what is a catastrophe (Richard Hughes, 'A High Wind in Jamaica'),” — Maile Meloy Copy Share Image
“Civilization, her mother had told her since she was small, was a series of agreements about what was good for everyone, enforced by law.… — Maile Meloy Copy Share Image
To be a kid is to be invisible and to listen, and to interpret things that aren't necessarily meant for you to hear--because how… — Maile Meloy Copy Share Image
“All the while, Everett felt both the threat of disorder and the steady, thrumming promise of having everything he wanted, all at once.” — Maile Meloy Copy Share Image
“We're creating little hedonists,' Frank used to say. 'Nothing will be as pleasurable as this for the rest of their lives. They'll search everywhere… — Maile Meloy Copy Share Image
“Benjamin called it “estro-lock,” the way the two women could talk for hours and lose track of time. They ended up in conversation across… — Maile Meloy Copy Share Image
“Whenever we tamper with natural laws, there are consequences,” the count said. “The larger the disruption, the larger the consequence.” — Maile Meloy Copy Share Image
His heart felt dangerously full, for the first time in years. That dried-up battered organ, suddenly flush with love. It could kill him. — Maile Meloy Copy Share Image
