Devotion

A Rat Story

By: Maile Meloy

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

From one of the most popular and acclaimed story writers of her generation, a single-volume short story from the author of 2017's Do Not Become Alarmed, a beautifully packaged palm-sized gift book.

“That the yellow house was thrillingly affordable might have been a warning sign, if Eleanor had known how to read it. But she’d been desperate. She was sharing a room with her four-year-old daughter, Hattie, in her parents’ house, and she had to get out.”

From the award-winning novelist and short story writer Maile Meloy, Devotion: A Rat Story is an exquisitely unsettling tale about a young single mother whose new home becomes a kind of nightmare she must resolve on her own.

Eleanor is in such a rush to move away from her parents that she allows an imperious realtor to rush her to close on the too-good-to-be-true home without an inspection. Shortly after the house becomes legally hers—with every cent and all of her pride and future tied up in the property—the giant rats show themselves. In the yard, in the kitchen, on her daughter’s bed. A walk around the block reveals a decrepit neighboring house where two elderly sisters are feeding and fostering thousands of unusal “pets.” What has Eleanor done? What action can she possibly take now?

In Meloy’s characteristically clean, assured style, she captures the hopes and horrors of domestic life with an element of suspense that drives the reader feverishly to the end.

Critic reviews

“[Meloy is] a wise and astonishing conjurer of convincing realities.” —The New Yorker

“She’s such a talented and unpredictable writer that I’m officially joining her fan club; whatever she writes next, I’ll gladly read it.” —Curtis Sittenfeld, The New York Times Book Review

“Maile Meloy combines the meticulous realism of domestic fiction with the witchery of a natural-born storyteller.” — The New York Times Magazine

“Don’t let the easy accessibility of Maile Meloy’s writing fool you; she’s capable of witchcraft.” —Time

“In the gifted hands of this storyteller, treats abound.” —The Boston Globe

“Maile Meloy is a bit of a magician.” —The Cleveland Plain Dealer

“In a Maile Meloy story, the thrill is in our own perception… Meloy’s style is disciplined and sly. She keeps a perfect poker face. And we’re players in the game.” – The Dallas Morning News

Odd

Strange but full and had pathos. I felt for the young mother who just wanted her own life and the strange old sisters next door. Reminds me now of my misplaced sympathy for morning glorys in Seattle and how they took over the garden.

An hour of perfectly chosen words

I've underestimated the power of the short story! Maile Meloy has combined imagery with suspense to make magic out of a tale that might be right under your own nose. Cassandra Campbell is one of my favorite narrators with the perfect cadence of a storyteller for the adult in all of us grownup kids.

What?

Would you try another book from Maile Meloy and/or Cassandra Campbell?

Well, first this has to be the dumbest book I have ever purchased. Second, I thought I was buying a full book and not a short story so when it ended in the middle of the crisis for no reason, I almost laughed. Don't bother spending money on this one. I'll give you the cliff notes. "Lots of rats with a story that doesn't end." the end