From bestselling author Nancy Star comes a deeply moving novel about the truths we hide from others and the lies we tell ourselves.
To the outside world, beloved advice columnist Lane Meckler has all the answers. What no one knows is that she also has a secret: her life is a disaster, and it’s just gotten worse. Her husband, whom she was planning to leave, has died in a freak accident. Her six-year-old son, Henry, has stopped speaking to everyone but her. Lane’s solution? Move. Growing up, that was what her family did best.
But when she and Henry pack up and leave, Lane realizes that their next home is no better, and she finally begins to ask herself some hard questions. What made her family move so often? Why has she always felt like an outsider? How can she get Henry to speak?
On a journey to help her son find his voice, Lane discovers that somewhere along the way she lost her own. If she wants to help him, she’ll need to find the courage to face the past and to speak the truth she’s been hiding from for years.
Genre: Literary Fiction
To the outside world, beloved advice columnist Lane Meckler has all the answers. What no one knows is that she also has a secret: her life is a disaster, and it’s just gotten worse. Her husband, whom she was planning to leave, has died in a freak accident. Her six-year-old son, Henry, has stopped speaking to everyone but her. Lane’s solution? Move. Growing up, that was what her family did best.
But when she and Henry pack up and leave, Lane realizes that their next home is no better, and she finally begins to ask herself some hard questions. What made her family move so often? Why has she always felt like an outsider? How can she get Henry to speak?
On a journey to help her son find his voice, Lane discovers that somewhere along the way she lost her own. If she wants to help him, she’ll need to find the courage to face the past and to speak the truth she’s been hiding from for years.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Rules for Moving highlights once again Nancy Star’s sense of humor and empathy for tenderhearted people who are struggling to find a place in the world. I rooted for Lane Meckler, the snappy advice columnist who has no quick comeback when her six-year-old son goes silent with everyone but her. The novel is as suspenseful as a mystery and as wise as an Elizabeth Strout book." - Alice Elliott Dark
"Nancy Star has written a beautiful, luminous novel filled with quirky characters so real you want to bring them home with you and give them some tea and a hug. This book has it all: an advice columnist who is struggling to follow her own best advice; an adorable little boy who has decided to stop talking; and an eccentric family that is burdened with secrets and rules. There is love and laughter and sweetness—and Star’s insightful writing and humor sweep us right to the heart of things. I loved every page!" - Maddie Dawson
"An advice columnist in desperate need of advice. A son who won’t talk. A rented house unfit for habitation. Nancy Star’s poignant novel Rules for Moving captures the chaos and heartbreak that is life—and also the wonder and joy." - Marcy Dermansky
"A tender exploration of family, friendship, and what it means to be the black sheep." - Julia Phillips
"Nancy Star has written a beautiful, luminous novel filled with quirky characters so real you want to bring them home with you and give them some tea and a hug. This book has it all: an advice columnist who is struggling to follow her own best advice; an adorable little boy who has decided to stop talking; and an eccentric family that is burdened with secrets and rules. There is love and laughter and sweetness—and Star’s insightful writing and humor sweep us right to the heart of things. I loved every page!" - Maddie Dawson
"An advice columnist in desperate need of advice. A son who won’t talk. A rented house unfit for habitation. Nancy Star’s poignant novel Rules for Moving captures the chaos and heartbreak that is life—and also the wonder and joy." - Marcy Dermansky
"A tender exploration of family, friendship, and what it means to be the black sheep." - Julia Phillips
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