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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
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English
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THE HISTORY OF US

Leah Stewart

In The History of Us, the newest novel by the celebrated author of The Myth of You and Me, three grown siblings return to their childhood home and face a family secret that forces them to reexamine their relationships to each other—and to the aunt who took them in as children.
Eloise Hempel is on her way to teach a class at Harvard when she receives devastating news. Her sister and her husband have been killed in a tragic accident, and Eloise must return home to Cincinnati to take her sister’s three children, Theodora, Josh, and Claire, out of the hands of her own incapable mother. She moves back into her mother’s ancient house and, after her mother leaves, pours her own money into its upkeep. Nearly two decades later, Eloise is still in that house, still thinking about what she left behind. With Claire leaving for New York City for a promising ballet career, Eloise has plans to finally embark on a life that’s hers alone. But when her mother makes a competition out of who inherits the house, and Claire reveals a life-changing secret, their makeshift family begins to fall apart.
A “perceptive writer with a keen grasp of contemporary culture and domestic life” (Booklist), Leah Stewart creates a deeply moving story of love, loss, sibling relationships, and the paths not taken.
Available products
Book

Published 2013-01-01 by Touchstone

Book

Published 2013-01-01 by Touchstone

Comments

Leah Stewart possesses magic. It is awe-inspiring to see how clearly and sensitively she presents the numerous ways her characters are broken and then finds a way to offer some hope of healing. With the family at the heart of THE HISTORY OF US, Stewart shows that she is unafraid of difficult characters and that she is equally unafraid of making sure they matter to us.

Domestic fiction fans favoring strong, intelligent characters will be intrigued by Stewart’s introspective examination of a family. Read more...

With a playwright’s precise, sometimes excoriating dialogue and an insightful novelist’s judicious use of interior monologue, Stewart crafts a tearful yet unsentimental family coming-of-age story.

Tender and compelling, THE HISTORY OF US explores how we define our family and who, ultimately, we are both with and without them. These characters and their stories stuck with me long after the final page, and Leah Stewart proves once again that she is a master of understanding the complexity of human nature.

Leah Stewart plunges deep into questions of home and heart. The History of Us is a lovely novel. Just lovely

Stewart is a wonderful observer of family relationships, and she adroitly weaves the stories of Eloise and the children she’s raised—their work, their loves, their disappointments and dreams—while focusing on what ties families together, and what ultimately keeps those ties from breaking. Read more...

A genuine and heartwarming story about the complicated thing we call family, and what it means to be home. I laughed. I cried. And I was very sorry to turn the last page.