The Ocean House: Stories

Mary-Beth Hughes has been critically acclaimed since her first novel, Wavemaker II was published in 2003. Hughes has been championed by Donald Antrim, Yiyun Li, Rick Moody, Mary Gaitskill, David Gates and Lorrie Moore.

Her sharp, spare literary style will draw fans of Ann Beattie, Alice Munro, Annie Proulx, Lydia Millet, and Amy Hempel.

Mary-Beth Hughes’s first novel, Wavemaker II, was a New York Times Notable Book. Her collection, Double Happiness, won a Pushcart Prize and was also selected as a New York Times Notable Book. Her last novel, The Loved Ones, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice.

She is widely reviewed by critics across the board, including the New York Times Book Review and the New Yorker.

This new collection of linked short stories explores relevant themes of sexual assault and the psychological effects of trauma on the female body. Grounded in the scenic backdrop of wealthy beach towns on the Jersey Shore, Mary-Beth Hughes dexterously navigates questions of socio-economic disparity, class and gender, mental health, and the stark realities of motherhood and the loss of one’s children.