Nolan Maren

Novels for the second half of life

The library

The Books

Eight novels about family, memory, second chances, and the love that arrives later than planned. Every one is available in paperback and for Kindle on Amazon.

A series in reading order

The Penrose Street Stories

Set in Aberly, Pennsylvania. Each book stands alone; read them in order and the town fills in around you.

Book cover of The Last Stop on Mill Row by Nolan Maren

Book One

The Last Stop on Mill Row

A school-bus contractor finds her grandchildren on her own route sheet, and the man she can’t stand on the other side of a custody fight.

Book cover of The Year Rita Got Lucky by Nolan Maren

Book Two

The Year Rita Got Lucky

A night-shift clerk wins $3.2 million, and finds out who needs her, who loves her, and the difference.

Book cover of Sing It Back to Me by Nolan Maren

Book Three

Sing It Back to Me

The chapel organist is losing her hearing; the choir’s loudest bass can’t read a note.

Book cover of Before the Creek Rises by Nolan Maren

Book Four

Before the Creek Rises

A new councilwoman holds the deciding vote, and she’s falling for the farmer selling the land.

Standalone novels

Homecomings

Four novels that return to the places people thought they had left behind.

Book cover of What June Kept by Nolan Maren

Port Haven, Maine

What June Kept

An aunt’s house above a Maine harbor, a cash offer that expires on Labor Day, and the first love who won’t sign.

Book cover of One More August by Nolan Maren

A Vermont lake

One More August

A Vermont lake camp two families have shared since 1962, one last August, and the man who still knows how to fix the pump.

Book cover of The Life She Put Away by Nolan Maren

Cincinnati, Ohio

The Life She Put Away

A box of college drawings, a fellowship she never answered, and a second act that begins at fifty-one.

Book cover of The Parts We Left Out by Nolan Maren

The Hudson Valley, New York

The Parts We Left Out

Two sisters, one Hudson Valley house, and a basement full of their father’s notebooks.

Where to begin

New to Nolan Maren?

If you love a small town you can come back to, start with The Last Stop on Mill Row, Book One of The Penrose Street Stories.

If you would rather spend one summer by the sea, start with What June Kept, a standalone set in a Maine harbor town.

Not sure yet? Read a free chapter first.

The newsletter

Letters from Nolan

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