The Affairs of Others: A Novel

Five years after her young husband's death, Celia Cassill owns a small apartment building in Brooklyn where she has carefully selected tenants who respect each other's privacy. She has built her life around boundaries and solitude, determined to remain separate from modern life's chaos. This changes when Hope, a woman fleeing her husband's betrayal, becomes a new tenant and begins a loud affair. When another tenant mysteriously disappears, the walls of Celia's carefully constructed world are tested. Violence and tenderness disrupt the building's sanctity as Celia and her tenants are forced to abandon their separate spaces for greater intimacy. The novel explores the interior spaces of its characters' bodies and their New York surroundings, examining the dynamics between men and women with emotional honesty. It traces how life and desire persist despite sorrow and obstacles, ultimately leading to a surprising conclusion and the possibility of genuine joy.