Alice Elliott Dark Books in Order

Men and women struggle with desires for affection, independence, achievement, and revenge in this short-story collection. Their competing needs bring questions of control into personal relationships, exploring the tension between wanting connection and wanting lives of their own.

A childhood tragedy leaves Jane carrying guilt and longing for a happier family life. Years later, disappointments in London and the experience of raising her own daughter lead her back toward the unresolved mysteries of her past.

Aging writer Agnes wants to protect the Maine peninsula she has loved for decades, but needs her lifelong friend Polly’s support. Competing family loyalties and an editor’s interest in Agnes’s past bring buried secrets into their carefully maintained friendship.

Ten stories explore the lives of people connected to the fictional town of Wynnemoor across different periods. Relationships between spouses, lovers, neighbors, and relatives expose grief, tenderness, and unsettling tensions beneath the surface of ordinary encounters.