Daylight Marriage

“A page-turning exploration of unexpressed love and unnecessary loss. Riveting and heartbreaking.” —Geraldine Brooks

Hannah was the kind of woman who turned heads. Tall and graceful, naturally pretty, often impulsive, always spirited, the upper-class girl who picked, of all men, Lovell--the introverted climate scientist, the practical one who thought he could change the world if he could just get everyone to listen to reason. After a magical honeymoon they settled in the suburbs to raise their two children. 

But over the years, Lovell and Hannah’s conversations have become charged with resentments and unspoken desires. She’s become withdrawn and directionless. His work affords him a convenient distraction. The children can sense the tension, which they’ve learned to mostly ignore. Until, after one explosive argument, Hannah vanishes. And Lovell, for the first time, is forced to examine the trajectory of his marriage through the lens of memory--and the eyes of his children. As he tries to piece together what happened to his wife--and to their lives together--readers follow Hannah through that single day when the smallest of decisions takes her to places she never intended to go. 

With the intensity of The Lovely Bones, the balance of wit and heartbreak of The Descendants, and the emotional acuity of Anne Tyler’s work, The Daylight Marriage is at its heart a novel about what happens when our intuitions override our logic, with a page-turning plot that doesn’t reveal its secrets until the very end.

“In The Daylight Marriage, there are two mysteries--the whereabouts of a missing woman and the vagaries of the human heart. Heidi Pitlor explores both of these enigmas with equal mastery, merging a shocking crime story with an incisive portrait of a failed marriage. The result is a novel that is fast-moving, emotionally complex, and ultimately heartbreaking.” —Tom Perrotta

“Hypnotically readable--I absolutely couldn’t put it down. The structure is brilliant, and I turned the pages with increasing dread. This book is terrific.” —Stephen King

An Indie Next Pick

Selected as a Best Beach Read by Coastal Living magazine, Family Circle, The Advocate, and Health magazine

“Likely to linger in the reader’s mind . . . a perfect microscope with which to examine the inexhaustible fascinations of marriage, and as Pitlor flashes between the day of Hannah’s disappearance and Lovell’s uneasy consideration of their past resentments, she finds a nice voice -- thoughtful, lyrical, unforced." —New York Times Book Review

“Despite the acrid marriage, the his-and-hers narration, and the fact that Lovell quickly emerges as the primary suspect, this isn’t really another Gone Girl.  It’s more an exploration of the way that the tiniest and most impetuous of decisions can suddenly recast a person’s life.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Hypnotically readable--I absolutely couldn't put it down. The structure is brilliant, and I turned the pages with increasing dread. This book is terrific.” —Stephen King

“Beyond the novel’s taut suspense and subtle characterization, Pitlor’s vivid prose provides an additional pleasure . . . The novel’s suspense lasts right until its shocking climax, but the ‘messy, wonderful, excruciating lives’ of its characters linger in the mind long after the last page.” —The Boston Globe

“Fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will delight in this familiar tale . . .  The mystery will keep you on the edge of your beach chair, but the real attraction to this book is the author’s beautiful portrayal of a marriage in peril, of two people whose lives have become heartbreakingly ordinary, and how it forever altered their personalities.” —Coastal Living

“The novel’s easy blending of crime and family narrative deftly cracks open the closed world of Lovell and Hannah’s marriage. In this exploration of a woman lost, and a lost love, Pitlor exposes every secret -- frustrations, weaknesses, ugliness -- to the harsh light of day.” —Toronto Star

“This Stephen King-approved ‘hypnotically readable’ novel involves a wife who’s vanished and a husband who’s trying to understand what’s happened, but it’s not just another Gone Girl.”—Health Magazine

“Riveting and distinctive.” —BBC

“In this captivating and emotionally stirring new mystery that, dare I say, may even be better than Gone Girl . . . A riveting psychological thriller that let’s you work out your darkest fears with a gay twist? Yes, please!” —Advocate.com

“The strength of The Daylight Marriage lies in its structure, coupled with a clear, piercing cadence in each sentence.” —Los Angeles Review of Books

"This spellbinding novel of suspense from the author of The Birthdays is told with great sympathy, as tension builds toward an inexorable conclusion. It can also be read as a cautionary tale both about a failed marriage and about how one impulsive decision can lead to a very dark place.” —Library Journal

“Pitlor brings forth the emotions that surge beneath the surface with the precision and power of a conductor . . . This powerful analysis of how dreams become nightmares will make readers want to hold their loved ones close.” —Booklist,  starred review

“Already read Room by Emma Donoghue? Consider The Daylight Marriage [next].” —Family Circle

“In The Daylight Marriage, there are two mysteries--the whereabouts of a missing woman and the vagaries of the human heart. Heidi Pitlor explores both of these enigmas with equal mastery, merging a shocking crime story with an incisive portrait of a failed marriage. The result is a novel that is fast-moving, emotionally complex, and ultimately heartbreaking.” —Tom Perrotta, author of Nine Inches

Hannah was tall and graceful, naturally pretty, spirited and impulsive, the upper-class young woman who picked, of all men, Lovell---the introverted climate scientist who thought he could change the world if he could just get everyone to listen to reason. After a magical honeymoon, they settled in the suburbs to raise their two children.

But over the years, Lovell and Hannah s conversations have become charged with resentments and unspoken desires. She has become withdrawn. His work affords him a convenient distraction. And then, after one explosive argument, Hannah vanishes.

For the first time, Lovell is forced to examine the trajectory of his marriage through the lens of memory. As he tries to piece together what happened to his wife--and to their life together--readers follow Hannah on that single day when a hasty decision proves irrevocable.

With haunting intensity, a seamless balance of wit and heartbreak, and the emotional acuity that author Heidi Pitlor brings to every page, The Daylight Marriage mines the dark and delicate nature of a marriage.

A page-turning exploration of unexpressed love and unnecessary loss. Riveting and heartbreaking. GERALDINE BROOKS, author of Caleb s Crossing

In The Daylight Marriage, there are two mysteries--the whereabouts of a missing woman and the vagaries of the human heart. Heidi Pitlor explores both of these enigmas with equal mastery, merging a shocking crime story with an incisive portrait of a failed marriage. The result is a novel that is fast-moving, emotionally complex, and ultimately heartbreaking. Tom Perrotta, author of Nine Inches

Pitlor brings forth the emotions that surge beneath the surface with the precision and power of a conductor . . . This powerful analysis of how dreams become nightmares will make readers want to hold their loved ones close. Booklist, starred review"

"Hypnotically readable--absolutely couldn't put it down . . . This book is terrific." --Stephen King

Hannah was tall and graceful, naturally pretty, spirited and impulsive, the upper-class young woman who picked, of all men, Lovell---the introverted climate scientist who thought he could change the world if he could just get everyone to listen to reason. After a magical honeymoon, they settled in the suburbs to raise their two children.

But over the years, Lovell and Hannah's conversations have become charged with resentments and unspoken desires. She has become withdrawn. His work affords him a convenient distraction. And then, after one explosive argument, Hannah vanishes.

For the first time, Lovell is forced to examine the trajectory of his marriage through the lens of memory. As he tries to piece together what happened to his wife--and to their life together--readers follow Hannah on that single day when a hasty decision proves irrevocable.

With haunting intensity, a seamless balance of wit and heartbreak, and the emotional acuity that author Heidi Pitlor brings to every page, The Daylight Marriage mines the dark and delicate nature of a marriage.

"A page-turning exploration of unexpressed love and unnecessary loss. Riveting and heartbreaking." --GERALDINE BROOKS, author of Caleb's Crossing

"In The Daylight Marriage, there are two mysteries--the whereabouts of a missing woman and the vagaries of the human heart. Heidi Pitlor explores both of these enigmas with equal mastery, merging a shocking crime story with an incisive portrait of a failed marriage. The result is a novel that is fast-moving, emotionally complex, and ultimately heartbreaking." --Tom Perrotta, author of Nine Inches

"Pitlor brings forth the emotions that surge beneath the surface with the precision and power of a conductor . . . This powerful analysis of how dreams become nightmares will make readers want to hold their loved ones close." --Booklist, starred review

“Hypnotically readable--I absolutely couldn’t put it down. The structure is brilliant, and I turned the pages with increasing dread. This book is terrific.” —Stephen King

When Hannah vanishes the morning after an explosive argument with her husband, Lovell, he must try to piece together what happened to his wife--and to their life together. While the police gather clues, the reader watches Hannah’s every move, as hastily made decisions prove irrevocable.

With haunting intensity, a seamless balance of wit and heartbreak, and the emotional acuity that author Heidi Pitlor brings to every page, The Daylight Marriage is a riveting puzzle that mines the dark and delicate nature of a marriage and confronts our need to be truly seen by those who see us every day.

“In The Daylight Marriage, there are two mysteries--the whereabouts of a missing woman and the vagaries of the human heart. Heidi Pitlor explores both of these enigmas with equal mastery, merging a shocking crime story with an incisive portrait of a failed marriage . . . Fast-moving, emotionally complex, and ultimately heartbreaking.” —Tom Perrotta, author of Nine Inches

“A page-turning exploration of unexpressed love and unnecessary loss. Riveting and heartbreaking.” —Geraldine Brooks, author of Caleb’s Crossing

“Understated and plausible . . . We learn the truth about what happened to Hannah in a way that’s all the more disturbing for its subtlety . . . Chilling." —Entertainment Weekly

“Pitlor brings forth the emotions that surge beneath the surface with the precision and power of a conductor . . . This powerful analysis of how dreams become nightmares will make readers want to hold their loved ones close.” —Booklist, starred review

 

Heidi Pitlor grew up in Concord, Massachusetts, and got her BA at McGill University and her MFA at Emerson College in Boston. She was a senior editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for nine years before she became the series editor of The Best American Short Stories. She has worked with Salman Rushdie, Alice Sebold, Richard Russo, Elizabeth Strout, and others. She is the author of the novel The Birthdays and her fiction and essays have appeared in Ploughshares, the Huffington Post, and Labor Day: True Stories by Today’s Best Women Writers. In Fall 2015, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will publish 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories, which she coedited with Lorrie Moore. Heidi lives outside Boston with her husband and twin son and daughter.