William Maxwell

On an Illinois farm in the 1920s, a man is murdered, and in the same moment the tenous friendship between two lonely boys comes to an end....

It is 1948 and a young American couple arrive in France for a holiday, full of anticipation and enthusiasm....

Pregnant with her second child, Martha King finds her marriage to lawyer Austin King more and more frustrating when her husband befriends his young foster cousin, Nora, and, in the process, unwittingly jeopardizes his marriage, career, and place in the community....

William Maxwell creates a sensitive portrait of an American family and of the complex woman who is its emotional pillar. Deftly rendering the civilities and constraints of a vanished era, They Came Like Swallows measures the currents of love and need that run through all our lives....

Here is a classic novel from one of our most honored writers - the author of such acclaimed works as So Long, See You Tomorrow and All the Days and Nights....