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The Half Moon

A deeply moving story about love, marriage and forgiveness from the New York Times bestselling author

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The story about a marriage in crisis that you will not be able to put down
A beautiful, unforgettable story of love and second chances, for fans of The Paper Palace, Hello Beautiful and Tom Lake.
Winter, upstate New York. Outside the Half Moon bar, a blizzard is raging. Inside, bartender Malcolm and his wife Jess are coming face to face for the first time in four months.
Malcolm never understood why Jess packed up and left him suddenly, without explanation. Meanwhile, Jess always loved Malcolm, but when forced to choose between her husband’s dreams and her desire to have a family, she found herself slipping away.
Now, trapped in the empty bar as the snow piles up outside, they must confront the secrets and small betrayals that brought their marriage to this point.

‘A fearless writer’ Lisa Taddeo
‘Compelling, touching, exquisitely crafted . . . I adored this story’ Liane Moriarty

©2023 Mary Beth Keane (P)2023 Penguin Audio

 City Life Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Marriage & Long-Term Partnerships Relationships Urban Marriage

Critic reviews

Mary Beth Keane writes to the heart of the human heart. She shows us how love can deepen, how love can stall - hang in the sky like a half moon, waxing and waning in the same moment, equal parts shadow and light. I could not put this book down' (Miranda Cowley Heller, author of Sunday Times bestseller The Paper Palace)
Absorbing ... Keane excels at moments of interior deliberation ... it's such a pleasure to sink into Keane's quietly luminous prose ... Her recordings of the small, significant moments of life have a way of standing for something larger... [Keane's] perceptive, generous observations and attention to her characters' inner lives make for a book that is much, much more than the sum of its characters. She manages to find the extraordinary grace in our achingly ordinary world
I adored this compelling, touching, exquisitely crafted story about a marriage in crisis. As a devoted fan of Mary Beth Keane, I'm already looking forward to whatever she chooses to write next! (Liane Moriarty)
I fell in love with The Half Moon from the first page, and barely looked up until I'd finished. Mary Beth Keane has written another brilliantly absorbing novel about complicated marriages and family dynamics - how they shape us, yes, but how they undo us as well. Prepare to lose yourself in this book (Sara Collins, bestselling author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton)
Mary Beth Keane is one of our finest writers on the interior complexities of marriage and family. She shines a flashlight on the intricate clockwork of love and longing that runs inside us; and because of the thoughtfulness of that examination, beauty and possibility are visible. I ran my finger over sentences while reading, thinking: Yes, exactly. This kind of fiction recognizes us, and allows us to look around our own lives with respect and kindness, and is therefore a great gift (Ann Napolitano, author of New York Times bestseller Dear Edward)
Keane writes in a sturdily realist vein-the vivid, domesticated world of Anne Tyler, of William Trevor, of Elizabeth Strout-but her insights into matters of the heart, longing and restlessness especially, have astonishing delicacy
A masterful novel that tells with great tenderness how love goes wrong and how, with hope, it can be righted. Mary Beth Keane is an unnervingly talented novelist - dead-on brilliant, authentic, full of humour, and possessing a dark and comforting wisdom. The Half Moon is a triumph (Adrienne Brodeur, author of Wild Game)
A quietly marvellous story of dreams, disappointments and second chances, but, mostly, love (Charmaine Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of Black Cake)
All stars
Most relevant
Its all in the review title,simply THE best story I ever read. Sublime.This lady is the most wonderful writer and storyteller.

The best story I ever read

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What a beautiful story about love and all the challenges that life throws your way. I couldn’t stop listening when I started and felt fully invested in the characters and the fate of the half moon. 5 stars!

Couldn’t stop listening

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Life & that one love that takes hold & won’t let go
Beautiful story
Loved the narration.

Lovely story

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I found it a bit slow and wasn’t sure for a long time whether it was supposed to be about the relationship or about the missing person. I also found it confusing at times because the story jumped back and forth between different points in time and there was no clear segregation so I was often questioning whether we were still in the past or back in the present. But I finished it and it was fine.

It was okay but not great

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Self absorbed characters,no real plot . Although this was not a long book I took me ages to finish as there was no pace. Wish I hadn’t bothered.

Self absorbed characters and no plot

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