Set against the backdrop of a small town in the throes of a very real opioid crisis, Unlikely Animals is a tragicomic novel about familial expectations, imperfect friendships, and the possibility of resurrecting that which had been thought irrevocably lost.Anyone who knows me knows that I’m obsessed with animals, especially my deeply attached Australian shepherd, Zoë. Emma isn’t really trying to be a hero, but somehow she and her father bring about just the kind of miracle the town needs. Emma’s dad is the only one convinced the young woman might still be alive, and Emma is hopeful he could be right. The police say they don’t spend much time looking for drug addicts. This ghost has been giving Clive some ideas on how to spend his final days.Įmma arrives home knowing she must face her dad’s illness, her mom’s judgment, and her younger brother’s recent stint in rehab, but she’s unprepared to find that her former best friend from high school is missing, with no one bothering to look for her. Clive Starling has been hallucinating small animals, as well as having visions of the ghost of a long-dead naturalist, Ernest Harold Baynes, once known for letting wild animals live in his house.

A medical school dropout, she’s come back to small-town Everton, New Hampshire, to care for her father, who is dying from a mysterious brain disease. Natural-born healer Emma Starling once had big plans for her life, but she’s lost her way. Both funny and sad, the kind of story we like best. It was a source of entertainment at Maple Street Cemetery.

Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize.

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Book Riot

You’ll fall in love with the offbeat cast of characters (both living and dead) and find yourself rooting for them right through the last page.”- Good Housekeeping (Book Club pick)Ī lost young woman returns to small-town New Hampshire under the strangest of circumstances in this one-of-a-kind novel of life, death, and whatever comes after from the acclaimed author of Rabbit Cake. “This tragicomic novel is heartfelt, touching, and delightfully quirky.

Unlikely animals annie hartnett