The Lay of the Land is a 2006 novel by American author Richard Ford. The novel is the third in what is now a four-part series, preceded by the novels The Sportswriter (1986) and Independence Day (1995); and followed by Let Me Be Frank With You (2014), a collection of "long" stories. Each of these books follows a portion of the life of Frank Bascombe, a real estate agent moving through early middle age towards his later years in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.