Joe McGinniss Jr., who is “poised to become one of our sharpest observers of life in America at the start of the twenty-first century” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), returns with one of the most engrossing, unnerving, and exhilarating novels in recent memory: a viscerally absorbing look at the seductive—and destructive—cutting edge of marriage.

Nick and Phoebe Maguire are a young couple who move cross-country to Southern California in search of a fresh start for themselves and their infant son following a trauma. But they arrive at the worst possible economic time, cemented into the dark heart of foreclosure alley and surrounded by neighbors swamped by debt who set fire to their belongings, flee in the dead of night, and eye one another with suspicion while keeping shotguns by their beds. Trapped, broke, and increasingly desperate, Nick and Phoebe each devise their own plan to claw their way back into the middle class and beyond. Hatched under one roof, their two separate, secret agendas will inevitably collide.

“A fearless novel about a family and a society on the brink…Harrowing but, against all odds, ultimately tender” (O, The Oprah Magazine), Carousel Court is an unforgettable vision of contemporary life. It has the ambition of our most serious literary work and the soul of a thriller, managing to be simultaneously sexy, scary, and powerfully moving. Most of all, it offers an unflinching portrait of modern marriage in a nation scarred by vanished jobs, psychotropic cure-alls, infidelity via iPhone, and ruthless choices. “Fast…Foreboding…Joe McGinniss spins an edgy tale, often laced with a reporter’s eye for the little details that make characters pop” (The Washington Post). He leaves you simultaneously gutted and grateful—and curious what your partner is up to on that electronic device across the room.

Joe McGinniss Jr., who is “poised to become one of our sharpest observers of life in America at the start of the twenty-first century” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), returns with a gripping, psychologically intense literary thriller about the unraveling of a modern marriage in the midst of economic collapse.

Nick and Phoebe Maguire are a young couple seeking a fresh start in Southern California after a personal tragedy. But they arrive just as the Great Recession takes hold, settling in a foreclosed suburban neighborhood on the brink of ruin. Surrounded by abandoned homes, neighbors in debt, and families falling apart, Nick and Phoebe are soon caught in a spiral of desperation, secrecy, and betrayal.

Trapped in toxic suburbia and struggling with the pressures of parenting, debt, and disillusionment, each spouse hatches a plan to reclaim their place in the American middle class—plans that will ultimately collide with devastating consequences.

Described as “fearless…harrowing but, against all odds, ultimately tender” (O, The Oprah Magazine), Carousel Court is a haunting portrait of marriage under pressure, and of a society grappling with psychotropic drugs, digital infidelity, financial insecurity, and fractured dreams. It’s an unforgettable novel for fans of Tom Perrotta, Richard Yates, and gritty, emotional fiction rooted in real-world tension.

“Fast…Foreboding…Joe McGinniss spins an edgy tale, often laced with a reporter’s eye for the little details that make characters pop” (The Washington Post). Carousel Court will leave readers riveted—and reconsidering what it means to love, trust, and survive in 21st-century America.

“In urgent, kaleidoscopic prose, Joe McGinniss Jr. diagnoses the American Dream with a high fever, jaundice, and severe heartburn. Set in a simmering suburban Los Angeles, Carousel Court is the portrait of a disastrous but thoroughly modern marriage whose young wife, Phoebe Maguire, is hurtling toward a pill-fueled implosion that’s impossible to look away from. The pitch-perfect ending reverberates like a handbell after a hurricane.”
—Kate Christensen, author of The Great Man