Love May Fail: A Novel

“Inspiring... Matthew Quick has a way with wounded characters.” (Boston Globe)

“Mr. Quick excels at writing what he knows, and making readers feel intimately connected to his characters. Love May Fail also reflects his mastery of devising humorous dialogue, interlaced with rabid vulgarity.” (Wall Street Journal)

“[One of] the seven books you have to read this summer” (Marie Claire)

“Ultimate summer reading.” (Good Housekeeping)

“A well-told tale of how, through will or force, even the most broken people can sometimes be repaired.... Enjoyable, cinematic.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

“Quick nails it again with his quirky-but-damaged characters and gritty real-life stories—but this time, it’s an ex-wife of a cheating pornographer, her hoarder of a mother, and her former high school English teacher both moving and delighting us.” (Glamour.com)

“An offbeat odyssey and a really fun end-of-summer ride.” (Parade)

“There’s always reason to hope in [Quick’s] novels...A lovely, entertaining book.” (New York Daily News)

“I couldn’t put it down.” (Pittsburg Post-Gazette)

“Instead of breaking your heart, Quick steals it, strengthens it and gives it back....a fine writer with a gift similar to that of fellow American novelist John Irving—creating quirky, flawed but ultimately lovable and deeply human main characters.” (Winnipeg Free Press)

An aspiring feminist and underappreciated housewife embarks on an odyssey to find human decency and goodness—and her high school English teacher—in New York Times bestselling author Matthew Quick’s offbeat masterpiece, a quirky ode to love, fate, and hair metal.

Portia Kane is having a meltdown. After escaping her ritzy Florida life and her cheating pornographer husband, she finds herself back in South Jersey, a place that remains largely unchanged from the years of her unhappy youth. Lost and alone, looking to find the goodness in the world she believes still exists, Portia sets off to save herself by saving someone else—a beloved high school English teacher who has retired after a traumatic incident.

Will a sassy nun, an ex-heroin addict, a metal-head little boy, and her hoarder mother help or hurt her chances on this madcap quest to restore a good man’s reputation and find renewed hope in the human race? Love May Fail is a story of the great highs and lows of existence: the heartache and daring choices it takes to become the person you know (deep down) you are meant to be.