Body Language

by Meg Howrey

Three adult sisters are faced with their mother’s provocative last request in this clear-eyed and moving novel exploring choice, change, and power in the bodies and lives of four different women.

Sloane, a former actress now working as a therapist, is determined to find a meaningful way through menopause, away from marketing schemes, possibly with the aid of psychedelics. Her sister Laurel is managing her own growing rage and restlessness while engaging in work at an environmental non-profit and raising teenagers. Nanette, the youngest, has answered a long-delayed religious calling and is living as a Novice in a convent. All three lives will be further disrupted when Sloane receives a call summoning her to their mother’s house, Laurel discovers possible evidence of her husband’s infidelity, and Nanette finds herself in the middle of a media frenzy after a spontaneous act of public prayer.

Soon, all three are reunited under their mother’s roof, and no one can seem to agree about anything beyond the Barbara has dementia, as did her mother and sister before her. Will it be an opportunity for the closed door of their very private mother’s inner life to crack open? A lesson in care; a shared responsibility that will be the making of this family, divided by large age gaps, parental divorce, and temperament? Or will a stunning revelation upend not only their mother’s remaining time, but divide the sisters permanently?

With razor-sharp prose and undeniable humor, acclaimed author Meg Howrey brings an American family in the midst of a painful crisis to unforgettable life, interrogating memory and emotional inheritance, the right of a woman’s autonomy, and the indelible bonds even the most disparate of sisters can share.

Kindle Edition

Expected publication September 1, 2026

About the author

Meg Howrey is the author of the novel They're Going to Love You, and the novels The Wanderers, The Cranes Dance, and Blind Sight. She is also the coauthor, writing under the pen-name Magnus Flyte, of the New York Times Bestseller City of Dark Magic and City of Lost Dreams. Her non-fiction has appeared in Vogue and The Los Angeles Review of Books. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Meg was a professional dancer who performed with the Joffrey Ballet and City Ballet of Los Angeles, among others. She made her theatrical debut in James Lapine's Twelve Dreams at Lincoln Center, and received the 2001 Ovation Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role in the Broadway National Tour of Contact.

Reviews

[T'Jae Freeman]

new meg howrey!!! so sat.