Melissa Leet
Crafting novels that question, reveal, and redefine the stories that shape our world.
ABOUT MELISSA
Melissa Leet is a novelist who explores profound, often unanswerable questions through the art of storytelling. Her work delves into themes of resilience, loss, and renewal, as seen in her acclaimed novel Landslide, which examines how individuals find strength amid catastrophic loss. Currently, Melissa is working on a new novel inspired by the power of storytelling across cultures, questioning how narratives help us make sense of the world—and what remains when stories collide with scientific truths.
Melissa holds a BA from Smith College, an MBA from Columbia University, and an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She is also the founder of Chinafolio, a think tank dedicated to researching China’s development and its evolving role in the global order. A lifelong learner and global citizen, Melissa has lived in London, Paris, Madrid, and currently resides in Chicago.
ALL WORKS
New Release (2025)
Cavalcade
We enter this world at a time and place not of our choosing. Briefly, we share our life with a multitude of forms—from family and friends to the smallest hummingbird, the most distant star. Though we will leave it, this cavalcade of life and matter goes on. Until eventually, eons from now, even this parade fades, dissipating back into the vast energy from which it emerged.
Against this backdrop of cosmic immensity, a more intimate story unfolds. Set 1993 Columbia University and 1970s-1980s Spain, Cavalcade follows five friends as they navigate studies, careers, and love. At the heart of the story is Alicia, an orphaned, tango-dancing, quantum physics PhD candidate, whose journey brings the group face-to-face with questions of meaning and connection, as each determines what truly matters most.