Beth McHugh's brilliant debut novel takes place in the late 1960s in a Montana university town, and it revolves around thirteen-year-old Grace, her younger sister Franny, their beautiful mother, their beloved father--and a secret that must be confronted. Perceptive and elegantly understated, "The Actor" examines the divide between secrecy and truth and what it means to grow up on such a precipice.

McHugh received a MFA from the University of Montana and teaches high school English in Montana. "The Actor" was the runaway winner for the inaugural Meadowlark Award.