Do Not Become Alarmed: A Novel

Do Not Become Alarmed: A Novel

<b>The moving and suspenseful new novel that Ann Patchett calls "smart and thrilling and impossible to put down... the book that every reader longs for."<br><br><b>“This summer’s undoubtable smash hit… an addictive, heart-palpitating story.” —<i>Marie Claire</i></b><br><br></b><i>The sun is shining, the sea is blue, the children have disappeared.</i><b><br></b><br> When Liv and Nora decide to take their husbands and children on a holiday cruise,<i> </i>everyone is thrilled. The adults are lulled by the ship’s comfort and ease. The four<i> </i>children—ages six to eleven—love the nonstop buffet and their newfound independence.<i> </i>But when they all go ashore for an adventure in Central America, a series of minor<i> </i>misfortunes and miscalculations leads the families farther from the safety of the ship. One<i> </i>minute the children are there, and the next they’re gone.<i> </i><br> <i> </i><br> The disintegration of the world the families knew—told from the perspectives of both the<i> </i>adults and the children—is both riveting and revealing. The parents, accustomed to<i> </i>security and control, turn on each other and blame themselves, while the seemingly<i> </i>helpless children discover resources they never knew they possessed.<i> </i><br> <i> </i><br> <i>Do Not Become Alarmed </i>is a story about the protective force of innocence and the limits<i> </i>of parental power, and an insightful look at privileged illusions of safety. Celebrated for<i> </i>her spare and moving fiction, Maile Meloy has written a gripping novel about how<i> </i>quickly what we count on can fall away, and the way a crisis shifts our perceptions of<i> </i>what matters most.