The History of Us - Softcover

"A deeply human book: funny, tender, smart, self-aware."--Elin Hilderbrand, author of Silver Girl

"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."--Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Wednesday Sisters

"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."--Allison Winn Scotch, author of The Song Remains the Same and Time of My Life

"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."--Kevin Wilson, author of The Family Fang

"Leah Stewart plunges deep into questions of home and heart. The History of Us is a lovely novel. Just lovely."--Ann Hood, author of The Red Thread and The Knitting Circle

"This narrative voice is so alive. . . . I cherish this wry, funny, aching, intelligent character and this book!"--Marisa de los Santos, author of Falling Together

"A sprawling novel with some of the off-kilter charm of Anne Tyler's work, The History of Us glows with affection for its wounded, familiar characters."--Boston Globe

"Touching drama . . . Faced with urgent choices, Eloise and the grown kids react with varying degrees of wisdom and pigheadedness, but as Stewart tenderly demonstrates, they remain - for better or worse - a family."--People

"Stewart's novel reminds us how family ties trump all else."--Parenting Magazine

"Charming. . . Stewart weaves a smart, redemptive tale of maturation."--Star Tribune

From the critically acclaimed author of The Myth of You and Me, The History of Us is a heartrending story of love, loss, family, and the life you make in the path not taken.

Sometimes home is the hardest place to go

Eloise Hempel is on her way to teach her first class at Harvard when she receives the devastating news that her sister and her husband have been killed in a tragic accident. Eloise leaves her life in Cambridge and moves back into her family’s century-old house in Cincinnati, pouring her own money into the house’s upkeep and her heart into raising her sister’s three children, Theodora, Josh, and Claire.

Nearly twenty years later, the now-grown children seem ready to leave home, and Eloise plans to sell the house and finally start a life that’s hers alone. But when Eloise’s mother decides that they should all compete for the chance to keep the house and Claire reveals a life-changing secret, the makeshift family begins to fall apart and ultimately must decide what in life is worth fighting for.