Bug Hollow

by Michelle Huneven

Three-time finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and James Beard Award winner Michelle Huneven’s Bug Hollow, a family novel that follows the Samuelson clan over four decades as they hurt and heal one another

When Sally Samuelson was eight years old, her golden boy brother Ellis went missing the summer he graduated high school. Ellis finally turned up at the bucolic Bug Hollow, a last gasp of the beautiful Northern California counterculture in the 70s. He had found joy in the commune there, but died in a freak accident months later.

From that point, the world of the Samuelsons never spins on same axis, especially after Julia, Ellis’ girlfriend from Bug Hollow, shows up pregnant on their doorstep. Each Samuelson has sought their own solace: Sybil Samuelson pours herself into teaching and numbing her pain after the loss of her beloved son; her husband Phil had found respite in a love that developed while he was working as an engineer in Saudi Arabia; Katie, the high achieving middle Samuelson, comes home to try and make peace with her mother after a cancer diagnosis. And Sally has become the de facto caretaker to Eva, the child Ellis never knew.

Michelle Huneven is “known for five enthralling novels, which chronicle the lives of middle-class Americans in her lushly conjured native California, as her characters struggle with addiction, excruciating romances, and resounding losses as they continue to seek meaning and a way to be good” (American Academy of Arts and Letters citation). She captures the Samuelson clan with glorious precision and the deepest empathy as they fracture and rebuild again and again.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication June 17, 2025

About the author

I am the author of four novels.

I was born in Altadena, California just a mile from where I live now. I college-hopped (Scripps, Grinnell, EWU) and landed at the Iowa Writer¹s Workshop where I received my MFA.

My first two books, Round Rock (Knopf 1997) and Jamesland (Knopf 2003), were both New York Times notable books and also finalists for the LA Times Book Award. My third novel, Blame, (Sarah Crichton Books, FSG, 2009), was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and also a finalist for the LA Times Book Award. My fourth novel, Off Course, (Sarah Crichton Books, FSG, 2014), is coming out April 1, 2014.
Along the way, I’ve received a GE Younger Writers Award and a Whiting Award for Fiction. For many years my “day job” was reviewing restaurants and writing about food for the Los Angeles Times, the LA Weekly and other publications. I’ve received a James Beard award (for “feature writing with recipes”) and an assortment of other awards for food journalism.

I’m presently teaching creative writing to undergraduates at UCLA and writing the occasional bit about food. I live with my husband Jim Potter, dog (Piper), cat (Mr. Pancks), and talkative African Grey parrot (Helen) in Altadena.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published June 17, 2025.

3 stars.

This award winning author (including the James Beard award!) brings a tale about the Samuelsons, a family in Altadena, California (which made me very sad.) Sally was eight, her sister Katie, 14 and her golden boy brother, Ellis was seventeen the summer Ellis disappeared for the summer. It was after he graduated from high school and just before he was headed to Ole Miss on a baseball scholarship. He had gone on a trip with some high school friends and just didn’t come back.

Turns out he had been living at a group home. His parents found home through an ad in a newspaper, went up, met his girlfriend and brought him home. But he was still in love with Julia, a college student who was, after their two months together, pregnant. But neither she nor Ellis knew that before he headed to Oxford and died, just days after his arrival.

When Julia discovers her pregnancy she goes to the Samuelsons to see if they want to raise the baby. They do, but after their two death of Ellis, each member of the family is damaged. This is the story of a family dealing with grief.

I enjoyed this but wonder how much I’ll remember about it long term. This is one I might change my rating on. Katie and Ellis are mostly ciphers here. I enjoyed the portions set in the Middle East.

[Leigh Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! I loved this book and read it in one day. I liked how each chapter focused on a different family member and segment of life. I cannot imagine the author’s work in creating so many detailed storylines but making them all fit together. Beautifully done. Giving it 4 instead of 5 stars simply because I didn’t agree with some of the choices the characters made. But, I know that we are all flawed too, and beauty can and does come after our mistakes!

[Kim McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A splintered family tree whose branches go off in different directions yet are firmly rooted to each other. Phil and Sib have three children and their lives are pretty much middle of the road until the oldest takes off on his own and perishes in a horrible accident. Mired in grief his death leaves no one in the family untouched. There are some major surprises (which I won't mention) but at its heart BUG HOLLOW is an intense character driven family drama. The family has the same ups and downs that many families deal with and their ties to each other loosen or pull taunt but never break completely. Readers of Ann Patchett, Anne Tyler and Ann Napolitano will appreciate the deep family connections in the quiet read. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

[Ilyssa Wesche · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hoarded this for a while before I read it at our book club retreat. Another incredible book by Michelle Huneven. She does such an excellent job of showing not telling (in this particular case I'm thinking of alcoholism), and also of making such a compelling story out of regular old lives. I loved the different and multiple ways people were related in this book, and how one story led into another.

My only quibble - and it is minor! - is that with all of the chapter, we get an in-depth look at a character we met earlier in the book (a writing construct that I happen to love) except for Fitz. And so I thought maybe I missed being introduced to Fitz in an earlier chapter, but no. That really took me out of things for a while.

I did love how the end wrapped up. Amazing.

[Donna Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mismatched thread of stories layered in one book circling around one family over four decades with dramatic forces that shape all their lives.