RULES FOR VISITING: A NOVEL

A beguiling story about the mysteries of friendship and what it takes to hold onto the people who know us best

May Attaway, a dry, witty, and unapologetic narrator, loves literature and her work as a botanist for the university in her hometown, where she lives with her elderly father and holds herself and everyone around her to exactingly high standards. More at home with plants than people, May begins to suspect she isn’t very good at friendship, and she wonders if it’s possible to improve with practice. Granted some leave from her job, May sets out on a journey to spend time with four long-neglected friends.

Smart, funny, and full of compassion, Rules for Visiting is a singular look at the way friends become a substitute family, or not. While May travels in search of friendship in the digital age, she begins to confront the pain of her past in real time.

With simplicity and honesty, Kane has crafted an exquisite story about a woman finding a new way to be in the world. This nourishing book, with its beautiful contemplation of travel, trees, family and friendship, is the perfect antidote to our chaotic times.