The Most is a contemporary novel by American author Jessica Anthony. Published by Little, Brown & Company in 2024, the novel explores a marriage on the brink of collapse. Set in 1957 in Newark, Delaware, Kathleen Beckett is a former tennis player. She quit playing after graduation and married her college sweetheart, Virgil Beckett.
Nine years later, Kathleen is a stay-at-home mother with two sons, while Virgil is a disgruntled insurance salesman. On November 3, 1957, she asked Virgil to go without her to church with their sons. It surprisingly also happens to be the day the Russian Sputnik 2 spacecraft was launched into space carrying a dog. Kathleen puts on a provocative red bathing suit and goes to their apartment's swimming pool. She gets in the water and refuses to come out under any circumstances.
Kathleen is fed up with her marriage and seeks to blow it up. She decides to force Virgil's hand by refusing to get out of the apartment's pool despite the onlookers. Over eight hours, their marriage will begin to unravel as they get to know each other's deepest desires, regrets, and love affairs. Kathleen and Virgil will recount their traumatic pasts as they try to come to terms with the life they chose to live. The Most was longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award for Fiction.
