Goodnight Stranger
Lydia and Lucas Moore are in their late twenties when a stranger enters their small world on Wolf Island. Lydia, the responsible sister, has cared for her pathologically shy brother, Lucas, ever since their mom’s death a decade before. They live together, comfortable yet confined, in their family house by the sea, shadowed by events from their childhood.
When Lydia sees the stranger step off the ferry, she feels an immediate connection to him. Lucas is convinced the man, Cole Anthony, is the reincarnation of their baby brother, who died when they were young. Cole knows their mannerisms, their home, the topography of the island—what else could that mean? Though Lydia is doubtful, she can’t deny she is drawn to his magnetism, his energy, and his warmth.
To discover the truth about Cole, Lydia must finally face her anxiety about leaving the island and summon the strength to challenge Cole’s grip on her family’s past and her brother. A deliciously alluring read, Goodnight Stranger is a story of choices and regrets, courage and loneliness, and the ways we hold on to those we love.
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Miciah Bay Gault
Miciah Bay Gault is the Elizabeth Drew professor of fiction at Smith College and teaches in the MFA in Writing program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her first book Goodnight Stranger was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson award and was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel prize. Miciah was director of the Vermont Book Awards for ten years. She received a 2026 Vermont Arts Council creation Grant to work on a new book of ghosts stories.
Miciah's fiction and nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times, Tin House, The Harvard Review, The Sun, Agni, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. She was the editor of the literary journal Hunger Mountain for nine years.
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