Meet the Most Unassuming Literary Power Couple in Texas

AUSTIN -- Elizabeth McCracken and Edward Carey met at a party in New York in 2002. They were both published authors at that point: McCracken, a New Englander, was earning raves for her novel Niagara Falls All Over Again, while Carey, born and raised in England, had recently published his novel Observatory Mansions.How did they know there was a spark? In typical writerly fashion, of course. "We had great good luck for two writers meeting," McCracken says, sitting by her husband in their modest North Austin home. "We had read each other's work and already liked it." Today, 17 years later, McCracken, 52, and Carey, 49, make up the most unassuming literary power couple in Texas. McCracken's new novel, Bowlaway, has earned plaudits for its darkly whimsical tale of a mysterious woman who shows up in a small turn-of-the-century Massachusetts town preaching the gospel of candlepin bowling, a popular New England bowling variation that uses smaller balls and pins than the standard game.   Continue reading...