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A "big-hearted and true" (Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winner) debut novel set in a small rural town amid a congressional race that forces the candidates, their families, and a clique of gay second homeowners to confront lies, betrayals and shifting allegiances.
The trendy rural town of Griffin has become a popular destination for weekenders and the city's second homeowners, but now a congressional race in this swing district is highlighting tensions between life-long residents and new arrivals. The campaign pits local pub owner and town supervisor Chip Riley against the wealthy young carpetbagger Paul Banks, challenging the social and political loyalties of their families and friends with lasting repercussions.
Diane Riley, Chip's wife, is a religiously devout real estate agent who feels conflicted about selling second homes—including to Paul and his much older husband, Stan. Their elder son, Joe, is grieving the recent overdose death of his best friend and spiraling into drugs himself, while their younger son, Will, is a newly out college student seduced by the decadent lifestyle of Paul's circle.
Meanwhile, Stan Banks uses the race to give purpose to the pain of losing a loved one to AIDS, even as he begins to doubt Paul's readiness for office. And within their growing fraternity of city transplants, Eric Larimer finds unexpected connection with a local farmer that opens his eyes to the region's complexity as Leon Rogers, still reeling from a divorce, becomes increasingly desperate to infiltrate the Banks's exclusive crew.
Spanning six months from Memorial Day to Election Day, Town & Country paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of a community in flux. For readers of Fredrick Backman and Jen Beagin, this "powerful and extremely well-written book" (Colum McCann, National Book Award winner) asks the essential and timeless questions: What makes a home, and what do we owe our neighbors?
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (1/1/2026)
I'm just about to finish Town & Country by Brian Schaefer, which I liked better as I kept reading. Next on my list is The Three Lives of Kate Kay, which will be reading for my book club.
-Sharon_G
"Schaefer does a masterful job delineating these and a large set of supporting characters, ending his novel with a grace note involving two of the latter group, choosing to emphasize new connections rather than old divisions. A thoroughly engaging and intelligent debut, brimming with insight and a sense of place." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[E]ngrossing...The author has his finger on the pulse in this appealing story of a battleground district." —Publishers Weekly
"Engaging, empathetic, and often heartbreakingly authentic... . An auspicious debut." —Booklist
"Town & Country is so thoughtfully and beautifully written I could read it over and over again. A rumination on who we think we are versus who we really are, on loyalties and betrayals, family and politics and above all love, it is a book to bring us together. Big-hearted and true, it will capture readers' hearts as it did mine." —Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Less
"An enchanting debut—a powerfully urgent story about communal and familial loyalty, and the politics of place. With prose that's as propulsive as it is precise, Brian Schaefer announces himself as an author of unique sensitivity and depth, delivering sharp observances with elegance and wit. This is a heart-filled, generous and unabashedly entertaining book. And it's a book we need right now, in town, in the country, and beyond." —Colum McCann, National Book Award Winning author of Let The Great World Spin
This information about Town & Country was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Brian Schaefer contributes regularly to the New York Times and has written for The New Yorker, New York magazine, and more. He received his master's degree in creative writing from Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv, where he also worked as a writer and editor for Haaretz. He and his husband live in New York City and the Hudson Valley. Town & Country is his first book.
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