Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | She Flew the Coop | 1994 | Michael Lee West / Piper Maitland | Buy |
| 2 | American Pie | 1996 | Michael Lee West / Piper Maitland | Buy |
| 3 | Mermaids in the Basement | 2008 | Michael Lee West / Piper Maitland | Buy |
Michael Lee West has written three standalone novels that showcase her Southern storytelling roots. She Flew the Coop (1994) is set in a small Louisiana town during the 1950s and follows the aftermath of a woman’s death through the eyes of the townspeople she left behind. The novel mixes dark humor with genuine emotion in a way that became West’s signature.
American Pie (1996) continues in the same vein, exploring family and community in the South. Mermaids in the Basement (2008), her most recent standalone, brings a woman back to her Tennessee hometown to care for her ailing mother, and the visit dredges up old family secrets. Across all three books, West writes women who are complicated, funny, and unmistakably Southern in their outlook and speech.