Rules for Visiting: A Novel

“An elegant and deeply moving meditation on friendship, family, and life on earth. Rules for Visiting is a wonderful novel.” —Emily St. John Mandelauthor of Sea of Tranquility, The Glass Hotel, and Station Eleven

The national bestseller and an Indie Next List pick

Name a Best Book of the Year by O Magazine • Good Housekeeping • Real Simple • Vulture • Chicago Tribune
 
Named a Best Book of the Summer by The Today Show • Good Morning America • Wall Street Journal • San Francisco Chronicle • Southern Living
 
Shortlisted for the 2020 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize 

Long-listed for the 2020 Tournament of Books

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

Smart, funny, and full of compassion, Rules for Visiting is the story of a search for friendship in the digital age, a singular look at the way we stay in touch. While May travels, she studies her friends’ lives and begins to confront the pain of her own.

With simplicity and honesty, Jessica Francis Kane has crafted an exquisite story about a woman trying to find 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.

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Published Apr 28, 2020

304 pages

Average rating: 7.11

62 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

LiziB
Feb 23, 2023
8/10 stars
Falling somewhere in between The Odyssey and a chicklit beach read, this novel provided much food for thought. I especially loved all the bits about trees.

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