Do Not Become Alarmed: A Novel

The moving and suspenseful new novel that Ann Patchett calls "smart and thrilling and impossible to put down... the book that every reader longs for." ôThis summerÆs undoubtable smash hità an addictive, heart-palpitating story.ö ùMarie Claire The sun is shining, the sea is blue, the children have disappeared. When Liv and Nora decide to take their husbands and children on a holiday cruise, everyone is thrilled. The adults are lulled by the shipÆs comfort and ease. The four childrenùages six to elevenùlove the nonstop buffet and their newfound independence. But when they all go ashore for an adventure in Central America, a series of minor misfortunes and miscalculations leads the families farther from the safety of the ship. One minute the children are there, and the next theyÆre gone. The disintegration of the world the families knewùtold from the perspectives of both the adults and the childrenùis both riveting and revealing. The parents, accustomed to security and control, turn on each other and blame themselves, while the seemingly helpless children discover resources they never knew they possessed. Do Not Become Alarmed is a story about the protective force of innocence and the limits of parental power, and an insightful look at privileged illusions of safety. Celebrated for her spare and moving fiction, Maile Meloy has written a gripping novel about how quickly what we count on can fall away, and the way a crisis shifts our perceptions of what matters most.

• | Author: Maile Meloy
• | Publisher: Riverhead Books
• | Publication Date: Jun 05, 2018
• | Number of Pages: 368 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback/Fiction
• | ISBN-10: 0735216533
• | ISBN-13: 9780735216532