Home

In bookstores, or order through:

So Near “is a truly believable and compelling story…Liza Gyllenhaal plumbs the complexity of human emotions in this wonderful novel. With sensitivity and compassion she creates characters that will pull at your heart on their journey through grief.”—Katharine Davis, author of A Slender Thread

So Near

From the author of the acclaimed Local Knowledge comes a new novel that Publishers Weekly calls “intriguing … a real page-turner!”

In the aftermath of a devastating loss, Cal and Jenny Horigan’s marriage is unraveling. Both are plagued by guilt, unable to seek comfort from one another. Burdened by remorse, they begin to lose sight of the love that once anchored them—together with their sense of right and wrong.

As the Horigans try different ways to deal with their pain, a new acquaintance seems to offer the support they desperately need—though at times they are unsure whether his friendship is helping them find a way back to each other or leading them further apart.

Set in a small town in upstate New York which is still reeling from the recent recession, So Near is an exploration of the dynamics of family and friendship, longing and passion, loss and redemption. Primarily the tale of a marriage that is being tested to its limits, the novel chronicles the distances we sometimes have to travel to emerge from grief—and arrive at the true meaning of love and forgiveness.

Local Knowledge

“Gyllenhaal has X-ray vision into the human heart.”
—Ellen Feldman, author of Next to Love

“A book to savor.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Gripping and deeply perceptive.”
—Ben Sherwood, author of Charlie St. Cloud

Glimpsing the bluebird of happiness

One dull, chilly morning a few weeks ago, I looked up from my laptop to see a flutter of blue and red in the living room window of our house in the Berkshires. An American bluebird was snacking on the winterberry branches that I’d tucked among the pine cones and evergreen boughs in the window…