Lucy Ferriss - Media, Events, & Book Clubs

"Ferriss strikes the perfect balance between the global and the personal." -- Ivy Pochoda, author of These Women

Media kit

These high-res images and review materials are available for download.

Ferriss biography (13.8 KB)

Lucy Ferriss large author photo (1.01 MB)

Credit: Paul John Roberts

Lucy Ferriss head shot (222 KB)

Credit: Paul John Roberts

Meditations for a New Century cover (3.58 MB)

The Misconceiver front cover (4.99 MB)

The Misconceiver front & back cover (355 KB)

THE MISCONCEIVER quote sheet (14.6 KB)

FOREIGN CLIMES front cover (1.14 MB)

FOREIGN CLIMES front & back cover (149 KB)

A SISTER TO HONOR cover (350 KB)

A SISTER TO HONOR quote sheet (55.1 KB)

Selected Works

Christina Stead's "The Man Who Loved Children"

"Lucy Ferriss brings her signature honesty, clarity, and grace to bear on Christina Stead's famously challenging and rewarding novel about the frightening misuses of paternal power. I happily followed her into such literary byways as what to do with "impossible" characters (in books and in life), the virtues and pitfalls of excess in fiction, and how writing can sometimes save our souls. Through it all, Ferriss reckons with her own late father and his influence on her emerging artist's vision. This is a beautiful blend of memoir and deep reading."—Pamela Erens

Essays

Meditations for a New Century

"Lucy Ferriss's modern-day meditations are harrowing, whimsical, elegant, and probing. These beautifully composed pieces are small miracles of the essayist's art, and few writers at work today are as deft as Ferriss at finding wonder and meaning in the ordinary, the overlooked, the unusual, and the familiar." --Sudip Bose, American Scholar

Fiction

The Misconceiver

The Misconceiver is a startling novel in ways that highlight how unsurprising most pro-choice novels are. Ferriss isn't interested in merely confirming our liberal ideals; she makes us work for them. . . . The novel offers a challenging exploration of one woman's struggle to work through the profound moral dilemmas of her life. -- Ron Charles, The Washington Post

Foreign Climes

"The geographic breadth of Foreign Climes is only the beginning of its power. What makes the collection stunning is Ferriss's ability to go deep inside her characters, to the hidden places where we are foreign to those closest to us and even to ourselves, inviting profound reckoning." -- Dawn Raffel, author of The Strange Case of Dr. Couney

A Sister to Honor

"As ineluctable as a Greek tragedy." -- Claire Messud, author of The Woman Upstairs

The Lost Daughter

"From its harrowing prologue to its final sentences, I was emotionally engaged with this fine novel. Ferriss is a masterful storyteller." —Wally Lamb, author of I Know This Much Is True

Memoir

Unveiling the Prophet

"Ferriss’s exploration of St. Louis’s Veiled Prophet Ball is a must read. . . . This is one of the best books of the year."

-- Riverfront Times

Quick Links

Media, Events, & Book Clubs

Spring 2023 events

July 18 book event at P&T Knitwear in NYC will benefit reproductive rights.

Tuesday, July 18, 6:30 pm at P&T Knitwear, New York City

A public conversaton with Rickie Solinger, author of The Abortionist and many other books on reproductive rights in America, to benefit the Brigid Alliance and the New York Abortion Access Fund.

Friday, July 21, $;00 pm at the Bookstore, Lenox, MA

A reading from The Misconceiver and a conversation with Jennifer Haigh, author of Mercy Street, moderated by Dawn Tripp. Reception following at the Get Lit bar.

Wednesday, August 16, 2:00 pm at OLLI, Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield, MA

A reading from Christina Stead's THE MAN WHO LOVED CHILDREN, with conversation about autobiography, sentimentality, and literary reputation.

For up-to-date information on future events, please subscribe to my newsletter.

All author events for The Misconceiver will generate proceeds to aid in the fight for reproductive justice. If you are involved with an effort to help women in a post-Dobbs world, please use my Contact page to get in touch.

View or print: THE MISCONCEIVER Book Club & Readers' Guide (494 KB)

View or print THE MISCONCEIVER Q&A (97.8 KB)

View or print the Readers' Guide to A SISTER TO HONOR. (1.66 MB)

View or print Questions for Discussion for THE LOST DAUGHTER (52.9 KB)