The publisher summary states, “Biting and ironic and moving, Chatter focuses on a marriage pushed to the breaking point.  When Sarah discovers that her husband, Michael, has a grown daughter as a result of an affair he’s never mentioned, she tries to piece together his secretive past – and is made increasingly uncomfortable by this beautiful new 'daughter' who demands more and more of Michael’s attention.” 

Chatter “depicts the elusiveness of security” and “captures the collapse of communication and the tension created when discussions go unfinished and questions go unanswered.”
 
Chatter will be released by publisher Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill on October 23, 2007.

Perrin Ireland’s first novel, Ana Imagined, was published to critical acclaim in 2000.  She worked previously as a senior program officer for the National Endowment for the Arts and as an associate director for drama and arts at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.