This Time Last Year

A man becomes obsessed with unravelling the mystery of his brother-in-law's death in this “carefully controlled and beautifully balanced novel” (The New York Times Book Review).

Elizabeth Ash is on the run from her foundering marriage. With a friend, she has fled to England for a month, where the cool air is a tonic and adventure may be at hand.

Seeking solitude, Elizabeth’s husband, Henry, has holed up in her sister’s Vermont summerhouse to begin writing the book he hopes will transform his life. But Henry is more alone and less isolated than he bargained for: A year earlier his brother-in-law, Fitz, dropped dead in the same house. Fitz’s ghost is everywhere, especially so after Henry inadvertently discovers Fitz’s intimate life story stored on the computer in the study.

“A truly engaging book, with the intelligent, literate tone of Wallace Stegner.” —Library Journal

“[A] novel of love, loss, and self-discovery . . . [Hobbie] incorporates lessons about life in a novel of uncommon symmetry.” —Booklist

“An ambitious, moving exploration of desire and loss, by a subtle, persuasive writer . . . Sad, precise meditations by a writer displaying remarkable precision and control.” —Kirkus Reviews