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The Books You Receive
LETTING THE HOUSE GO—a story of love, memory and acceptance—is an intense and relevant new work of literary fiction. Richard Morris learns that his former wife, Irene, has entered a Long Island hospice and wishes to see him before she dies. Surprisingly, she has named him her executor. For two weeks he embraces his duties, visits Irene’s bedside, and seeks reconciliation with their angry son, Henry. As Irene’s death approaches, family and friends gather to support her. Richard feels drawn ever more deeply into their lives. Yet his place within their circle is uncertain until the final moments of his trip to the past—when he must confront a faulty memory, bitter grievances, and the stunning truth about his life.
In this moving sequel to Letting the House Go, Robert Crooke returns to Richard Morris at the far end of his life. It is 2021, six years after the death of his ex-wife Irene, whose final counsel still guides him. Aging and increasingly fragile, Richard has devoted himself to the tangled, multi-generational family they created together. Surrounded by the unguarded love of his children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, he is astonished by their generosity of spirit and by the future they imagine for themselves—one that feels both fragile and radiant amid a nation divided. As his health wanes and the world grows more uncertain, Richard reckons with memory, loss, and the limits of time. Familiar readers will recognize his once fierce self-absorption, now softened by hard-won humility. While revisiting the vivid Long Island setting and beloved cast of its predecessor, Across the Endless Night stands fully on its own as a resonant meditation on family, identity, and what we dare to hope will endure.
