Author Talk: Diane Parrish on Her Novel, ‘Something Better’ – Westport,

Celebrate the book launch of Westporter Diane Parrish’s debut novel, Something Better, at The Westport Library. Diane will be joined in conversation with her daughter and acclaimed author, Amanda Parrish Morgan.

About Something Better:

It arose not from desire or even interest, but from curiosity: what would happen…if she just let it?

The bubble in which Ruth and David live their tidy suburban lives is about to burst. A tragic automobile accident shatters their insular world and sends David into an emotional tailspin. An unexpected job opportunity sends Ruth to the West Coast, waylaying her desire to become a mother and making her increasingly unavailable for David’s needs.

Thrown off balance and alone, David develops a fixation on Annabeth Brady, the daughter of the friends lost that fateful night. As he and Ruth drift further apart, each must decide if they will remain true to their vows, or what it might mean to search for something better.

Told in gorgeous, descriptive prose with flashes of humor and insight, this debut novel by Diane Parrish quietly questions our notions of forgiveness and faith. Something Better heralds the introduction of a sparkling new talent.

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Diane Parrish is originally from the Midwest and now lives with her husband and their elderly Corgi in Connecticut, where they raised their two children. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in various literary journals and magazines. Something Better is her first novel.

Amanda Parrish Morgan is the author of Stroller (Bloomsbury) which The New Yorker named one of the best books of 2022, noting that “the central strength of the book is not comprehensiveness but the way the stroller, and Morgan’s experience of her own strollering years, become an omnidirectional magnet, pulling disparate material into friendly proximity.”

Some of Amanda’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Wired, The Rumpus, LitHub, Guernica, The Millions, n+1, The American Scholar, The Washington Post and elsewhere. Amanda lives in Connecticut with her husband and two kids, where she teaches at Fairfield University, The University of Chicago’s Graham School, and the Westport Writers’ Workshop.

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