First published 2026
Jesse del Ruth witnesses something impossible. His husband Norman rises from bed, walks into their Joshua Tree backyard, steps into a beam of light, and vanishes. After thirty years together, Jesse finds himself utterly alone. Norman's sister Lally arrives with an urgent request that deepens Jesse's confusion. A conspiracy-theorist neighbor watches from next door. A strange man follows Jesse around town. Suspicions grow that Jesse played a role in Norman's disappearance. Jesse considers his options: return to teaching, install a pool, adopt a dog, reconcile with his estranged mother. But Norman's absence weighs on everything. Jesse cracks under mounting pressure as the community turns suspicious eyes on him. He must decide whether to wait for a partner who may never return or forge a new path forward. Before Jesse can understand why Norman abandoned their life together, he needs to confront what it truly means to stay.
Genres: literary-fiction, suspense, mystery, contemporary
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Joshua Tree, United States
Period: Contemporary
368 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons