NATIONAL BESTELLER • An exquisite” (The Boston Globe) exploration of love and loss the
struggles and limitations of family life—and how we all must learn to live together and
apart—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hours The only problem with Michael
Cunningham’s prose is that it ruins you for mere mortals’ work. He is the most elegant writer
in America.”—The Washington Post NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE • A BEST BOOK OF
THE YEAR: NPR Harper’s Bazaar Chicago Public Library Lit Hub Paste Kirkus Reviews April 5
2019: In a cozy brownstone in Brooklyn the veneer of domestic bliss is beginning to crack. Dan
and Isabel husband and wife are slowly drifting apart—and both it seems are a little bit in
love with Isabel’s younger brother Robbie. Robbie wayward soul of the family who still lives
in the attic loft Robbie who trying to get over his most recent boyfriend is living
vicariously through a glamorous avatar online Robbie who now has to move out of the house—and
whose departure threatens to break the family apart. And then there is Nathan age ten taking
his first uncertain steps toward independence while his sister Violet five does her best
not to notice the growing rift between her parents. April 5 2020: As the world goes into
lockdown the cozy brownstone is starting to feel more like a prison. Violet is terrified of
leaving the windows open obsessed with keeping her family safe. Isabel and Dan communicate
mostly in veiled sleights and frustrated sighs. And dear Robbie is stranded in Iceland alone
in a mountain cabin with nothing but his thoughts—and his secret Instagram life—for company.
April 5 2021: Emerging from the worst of the crisis the family reckons with a new very
different reality—and with what they’ve learned what they’ve lost and how they might go on.
[Cunningham] is one of love’s greatest witnesses.”—Los Angeles Times An absolutely stunning
portrait of humanity . . . a masterpiece.”—Literary Hub
