The Measures Between Us
Set in a suburb of Boston, Hauser’s finely crafted first novel entwines the lives of various characters with their inner struggles. Vincent is a longtime woodworking teacher at the town’s middle school. Concerned about his young adult daughter, Cynthia, who recently moved back home, he reaches out to a former student, Henry, for guidance. Henry, now a psychology professor, recommends with little forethought that Cynthia be admitted to a mental hospital. Vincent and his wife, Lucinda, are tormented over the decision, but nonetheless follow through with Henry’s advice, then find themselves reevaluating their present and former choices as parents. Meanwhile, Henry and Lucinda tenuously await the birth of their first child as Henry finds himself in an affair with one of his college students. Lucinda harbors her own troubled secrets regarding her unborn child and attempts to confront her anxiety and guilt through an unexpected trip. As the connections between these disparate elements are slowly revealed, Hauser’s characters find they can no longer ignore the truth, leading to moments of clarity that ring hauntingly true. --Leah Strauss