One dark summer dawn, at the very moment that an enormous monster dies in Lake Glimmerglass, twenty-eight-year-old Willie Upton returns pregnant and miserable to her hometown of Templeton, N.Y. Willie is a descendant of the creator of the town, Marmaduke Temple, and she expects to be able to hide in the place that has been home to her family for centuries. But the monster changes the fabric of the village, and Willie's mother, Vivienne, has a surprise for the girl that will send Willie careening through her family's history to dig up clues about her heritage. Spanning two centuries and based on Lauren’s hometown of Cooperstown, New York., the story is told through two centuries of voices, from Templeton ghosts to residents, masters to servants, natives to interlopers, and historical figures to literary characters.

Read the First Chapter.

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Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers
New York Times Bestseller; New York Times Editor’s Choice Selection
Booksense Bestseller; Booksense February Pick
Barnes and Noble First Look Book Club selection
Amazon Significant Seven Selection
"Powell's Favorite" at Powell's Bookstore in Portland, Oregon.
Named one of the Best Books of 2008 by Amazon.com and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Rights have been sold to the U.S. and Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Holland, Russia, Greece, Spain, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.

Praise for THE MONSTERS OF TEMPLETON

"Groff's multilayered saga both thrills and delights with poignant, breathtaking prose. Grade: A."
"It's a rare book that gives darkness a good long stare and declares, convincingly, that life contains joy. The Monsters of Templeton, a fascinating first novel by Lauren Groff, is a book with joy in its marrow. . . . Reading this exquisite book is like swimming through warm water filled with wondrous things. . . . this is a fabulous book."
"Groff's lively and poetic debut novel . . . [is] sweet and slightly wry, poignant yet beautifully understated. . . . As The Monsters of Templeton bounds back and forth in time, Willie and her ancestors tell stories rich in history, painful with deceit and misery, and triumphant in salvation."
"Groff hits a home run in her first at-bat, with a novel that is intriguingly constructed and compulsively readable. . . . The result is riveting, fun and unpredictable. Groff casts an ambitious net, and it absolutely works."
"Richly imagined. . . . What Groff illustrates so deeply, and uniquely, is the difficulty of shaking off one's family ties, one's roots."
"Fabulously inventive."
"A riotously playful novel about going home again . . . it takes only a few pages to see that Ms. Groff can write—really write."
"Groff is an assured writer, with a lovely and distinct voice."
"Monsters will give you paper cuts from turning pages."
"[An] outstanding literary debut. . . . What Groff is really digging at here is the enigma of the human spirit and how redemption and resilience shape our lives. . . . Groff turns her story into a meditation on the nature of change and how evolution -- of a place, a family, a person -- even if it's difficult and unsettling, can bring joyous rewards."
"The Monsters of Templeton is irresistible."
"Absorbing."
"Lauren Groff's first novel is equal parts historical fiction, ghost story, and Juno. Among the book's magical themes is the experience of reading it, which is much like falling down a rabbit hole or stepping through a mirror. Within pages, you'll feel yourself having stepped wholly and irretrievably into more than 200 years of Groff-created Templeton."
"Groff writes with seemingly effortless grace—the opening chapter alone would make a beautiful, deeply moving short story, and the rest of the book doesn't disappoint. Gorgeously written, very funny, and full of unforgettable characters."
"An opening to die for A gothic, riveting read."
"Groff combines history and tradition in a multi-layered story about roots, friendship and the dependability of legend."
"Groff's delightful debut is a glorious hybrid of history and humour, with just a sprinkling of magic."
"A vibrant patchwork of fact, fiction and myth...Beautifully rendered."
"Ingeniously structured and delivered with verve."
"Lauren Groff's exuberant debut follows in the footsteps of notable first novels like Marisha Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics and Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything Is Illuminated.... Luckily The Monsters of Templeton also marks the appearance of an original talent that can stand on its own in comparison to these literary heavyweights.... Groff's writing is ambitious, playful, intelligent and never dull."
"Lauren Groff's ambitious debut novel is... delightful and challenging. The Monsters of Templeton makes readers work, but its rewards are worth it. Groff ... is a talent to watch and celebrate."
"It speaks well for [Groff's] narrative talents that Willie Upton, disarming and smart, holds even more interest than the elaborate events that surround her.”
"[A] lyrical debut.... Readers will delight in Willie's sharp wit and Groff's creation of an entire world."
"An irresistible adventure. Highly recommended."
"A fantastically fun read, a kind of wild pastiche that is part historical novel and part mystery, with a touch of the supernatural thrown in for good measure."
"I was sorry to see this rich and wonderful novel come to an end, and there is no higher success than that."
“In The Monsters of Templeton, Lauren Groff has crafted a multilayered story that is boldly inventive and surprising, by turns wistful, elegiac, and sweeping.”
"The Monsters of Templeton is a bold and beautiful hybrid of a book . . . Lauren Groff is gifted with an elegant prose style and a narrative ambition as deep and as serious as the human mysteries she sets out to explroe."

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