Alice McDermott Books in Order
Alice McDermott has written 10 books, published between 1982 and 2023. The first book is A Bigamist's Daughter (1982) and the newest is Absolution (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 10
- Published
- 1982–2023
- Pages on record
- 1,740 in 7 of 10 books
- Reading time
- 29–44 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,740 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 7 of 10 titles with a page count on record.
Alice McDermott, born in 1953, is an American novelist and university professor whose subjects include Irish American families, Long Island and family life. Ten catalogued books run from A Bigamist's Daughter (1982) to Absolution (2023). Charming Billy (1998) took the National Book Award for Fiction and an American Book Award; That Night, At Weddings and Wakes and After This were each Pulitzer finalists; Absolution won the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. McDermott held a humanities professorship at Johns Hopkins University from 2002 to 2019.
How many Alice McDermott books are there?
Alice McDermott has 10 books, released between 1982 and 2023.
Alice McDermott Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 10 Alice McDermott books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1A Bigamist's Daughter1982 · 281 pages · confirmed 2/419822812/4
- 2That Night1987 · 181 pages · confirmed 2/419871812/4
- 3At Weddings and Wakes1992 · 207 pages · confirmed 2/419922072/4
- 4Charming Billy1998 · 280 pages · confirmed 2/419982802/4
- 5Child Of My Heart2002 · confirmed 2/42002–2/4
- 6After This2006 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/420062882/4
- 7Someone2013 · confirmed 2/42013–2/4
- 8The Ninth Hour2017 · 247 pages · confirmed 2/420172472/4
- 9What About the Baby?2021 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/420212562/4
- 10Absolution2023 · confirmed 2/42023–2/4
Alice McDermott books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Standalone books
10 books10 Alice McDermott titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Alice McDermott books in order?
No. No source lists any of the 10 Alice McDermott books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.
Where to start with Alice McDermott
Start with A Bigamist's Daughter (1982), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Alice McDermott book?
Absolution (2023) is the newest Alice McDermott book released so far.
Is there a new Alice McDermott book coming?
No next Alice McDermott book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Alice McDermott has won
Wikidata records 4 awards for Alice McDermott. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award2024Wonfor Absolution
- American Book Awards1999Wonfor Charming Billy
- National Book Award for Fiction1998Wonfor Charming Billy
- Whiting Awards1987Won
Alice McDermott at a glance
- Paused
- No new Alice McDermott title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
- Release pace
- Alice McDermott books have appeared about one every 5 years on average.
- Length
- 1,740 pages across the 7 of 10 books with a recorded length, a median of 256 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Alice McDermott books, 2 of 10, were published in the 2020s.
What the Alice McDermott books are about
8 of the 10 Alice McDermott books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: irish americans is tagged on 3 of 8. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Irish Americans 3 of 8 books
- Family life 2 of 8 books
- Irish American families 2 of 8 books
- Long island (n.y.) 2 of 8 books