Mary Alice Monroe Books in Order
Mary Alice Monroe has written 32 books, published between 1995 and 2025. The first book is The Long Road Home (1995) and the newest is Where the Rivers Merge (2025). One more title is announced: The Rivers' End (2027). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 32 + 1 announced
- Published
- 1995–2025
- Confirmed
- 29 of 33 titles
- Pages on record
- 7,308 in 19 of 33 books
- Reading time
- 122–183 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 7,308 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 19 of 33 titles with a page count on record.
Mary Alice Monroe is an American novelist, born in Evanston, Illinois, on 25 May 1960, and resident in South Carolina. Monroe's fiction draws parallels between nature and human nature: The Beach House and Swimming Lessons both involve injured sea turtles, and Time Is a River follows breast cancer survivors in a North Carolina fly-fishing group. The catalogue holds 33 books from The Long Road Home (1995) to Where the Rivers Merge (2025), with The Rivers' End due in 2027, plus the Beach House, Lowcountry Summer, Islanders and Rivers series. One title appeared under the name Mary Alice Kruesi.
Mary Alice Monroe is a conservation advocate, and her writing addresses family and community themes alongside its wildlife and environmental subject matter.
How many Mary Alice Monroe books are there?
Mary Alice Monroe has 32 published books, released between 1995 and 2025. They include 5 series and 16 titles listed outside any series. One more, The Rivers' End (2027), is announced.
Mary Alice Monroe Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 33 Mary Alice Monroe books in the order they were released, 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.
- 1The Long Road Home1995 · confirmed 3/41995–3/4
- 2Girl in the Mirror1998 · confirmed 3/41998–3/4
- 3The Book Club1999 · 402 pages · confirmed 3/419994023/4
- 4One Summer's Night (As: Mary Alice Kruesi)2000 · 384 pages · confirmed 3/420003843/4
- 5The Four Seasons2001 · 400 pages · confirmed 3/420014003/4
- 620024803/4
- 7Skyward2003 · confirmed 3/42003–3/4
- 8Sweetgrass2005 · confirmed 3/42005–3/4
- 9The Secrets We Keep2005 · 384 pages · confirmed 2/420053842/4
- 10Turtle Summer: A Journal for My Daughter2007 · 32 pages · confirmed 3/42007323/4
- 112007–3/4
- 12Time is a River2008 · 466 pages · confirmed 3/420084663/4
- 13Last Light Over Carolina2009 · confirmed 3/42009–3/4
- 14The Butterfly's Daughter2011 · confirmed 3/42011–3/4
- 1520124323/4
- 16A Butterfly Called Hope2013 · confirmed 3/42013–3/4
- 1720133873/4
- 18Second Star to the Right (As: Mary Alice Kruesi)2013 · 420 pages · confirmed 3/420134203/4
- 1920143703/4
- 2020154323/4
- 2120164483/4
- 2220163473/4
- 2320174083/4
- 24Writing South Carolina, Volume 3: Selections from the Third High School Writing ContestYoung Palmetto Books #12018 · confirmed 2/42018–2/4
- 2520184163/4
- 26The Summer Guests2019 · 348 pages · confirmed 3/420193483/4
- 2720203843/4
- 282021–3/4
- 2920213683/4
- 302022–3/4
- 31Shipwrecked2024 · confirmed 1/42024–1/4
- 322025–3/4
- 332027–2/4
Mary Alice Monroe series in order
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Beach House books in order 7 books
Mary Alice Monroe 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.
Lowcountry Summer in order
5 booksIslanders in order
2 booksRivers in order
2 booksYoung Palmetto Books in order
1 bookStandalone books
16 books16 Mary Alice Monroe titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Mary Alice Monroe Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Mary Alice Monroe books run from The Long Road Home (1995) to Where the Rivers Merge (2025), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Mary Alice Monroe in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Mary Alice Monroe books in order?
You only need to read Mary Alice Monroe books in order within each series: the books listed here span 5 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Mary Alice Monroe
Start with The Beach House (2002), the first Beach House book. The earliest catalogued title overall is The Long Road Home (1995).
What is the newest Mary Alice Monroe book?
Where the Rivers Merge (2025) is the newest Mary Alice Monroe book released so far.
Is there a new Mary Alice Monroe book coming?
Yes. The Rivers' End (2027) is the next Mary Alice Monroe book announced in the catalogue. A publication year announced this far ahead moves, so it is worth rechecking: every announced title dated after 2026 sits on the upcoming book releases page.
Mary Alice Monroe at a glance
- Still publishing
- Mary Alice Monroe is still publishing. The Rivers' End is announced for 2027.
- Release pace
- Mary Alice Monroe books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 7,308 pages across the 19 of 33 books with a recorded length, a median of 400 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Mary Alice Monroe books, 13 of 33, were published in the 2010s.
What the Mary Alice Monroe books are about
27 of the 33 Mary Alice Monroe books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: family life is tagged on 11 of 27. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Family life 11 of 27 books
- Romance 8 of 27 books
- South Carolina 8 of 27 books
- Mothers and daughters 5 of 27 books
- Women 5 of 27 books
- Sisters 4 of 27 books
- Psychological fiction 3 of 27 books
- Contemporary romance 3 of 27 books
- Friendship 2 of 27 books
- Juvenile literature 2 of 27 books
- North Carolina 2 of 27 books