''Mary Ann in Autumn'' (2010) is the eighth and penultimate book in the ''

Tales of the City ''Tales of the City'' is a series of nine novels written by American author Armistead Maupin from 1978 to 2014, depicting the life of a group of friends in San Francisco, many of whom are LGBT. The stories from ''Tales'' were originally serial ...

'' series by

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

novelist

Armistead Maupin Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. ( ) (born May 13, 1944) is an American writer notable for '' Tales of the City'', a series of novels set in San Francisco. Early life Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Ma ...

. It was released on November 2, 2010. It is the third book in the series to be written as a novel rather than first print as a serial.

Premise

Mary Ann Singleton, now in her late fifties, returns from New York City with a reason to seek support and a secret that she needs to share with Michael 'Mouse' Tolliver.

Plot summary

Mary Ann Singleton Carruthers flees her luxurious life in

Darien, Connecticut Darien ( ) is a coastal town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. With a population of 21,499 and a land area of just under 13 square miles, it is the smallest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast. It has the youngest population of any ...

for San Francisco, seeking solace from old friend Michael Tolliver. Reeling from both ill health and her husband's infidelity, she asks Michael if she can stay in his guest cottage while she recuperates. Meanwhile, other former Barbary Lane residents show up in the novel: Mary Ann's adoptive daughter Shawna is a popular sex blogger and is dating Otto, a clown; Anna Madrigal has mostly recovered from the stroke she had in '' Michael Tolliver Lives''; Michael's assistant, Jake Greenleaf, wrestles with his attraction to a closeted Mormon missionary who is involved in the movement to "cure" homosexuals; and Jake, a trans man, despairs of ever saving enough money to pay for surgery. Ironically, his dream of having a hysterectomy is the same nightmare that Mary Ann is facing. As the novel progresses, Dede and D'Orothea show up to help Mary Ann with her recuperation, Shawna befriends a homeless junkie prostitute, Jake makes a startling discovery, and a threat from the past comes back to haunt the former Barbary Lane residents.

References

External links

''Mary Ann in Autumn'' at ArmisteadMaupin.com
* ttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/nov/20/mary-ann-autumn-armistead-review "As his characters reach middle age, Armistead Maupin has got his mojo back." ''The Guardian''. 2010 American novels 2010 LGBT-related literary works 2010s LGBT novels Novels by Armistead Maupin Tales of the City Novels with transgender themes HarperCollins books {{2010s-LGBT-novel-stub