On this week's episode of Well-Versed, Farrar, Straus and Giroux/MCD associate editor Jackson Howard talks with Thomas Grattan about his new book, The Recent East, which follows a mother and two teens as they navigate a new life in East Germany.

Thomas Grattan's short fiction has appeared in several publications, including One Story, Slice, and The Colorado Review, has been shortlisted for a Pushcart Prize, and was listed as a notable stories in Best American Short Stories. The Recent East is his debut novel. He has an MFA in Fiction Writing from Brooklyn College and has taught middle school English for more than a decade. He lives in New York City.

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