Terrace Story: A Novel

Written by Hilary Leichter

Narrated by Xe Sands

From the author of the acclaimed novel Temporary, an intimate exploration of time, a fable about love, an epic daydream for a broken-hearted world

Annie, Edward, and their young daughter, Rose, live in a cramped apartment. One night, without warning, they find a beautiful terrace hidden in their closet. It wasn’t there before, and it seems to only appear when their friend Stephanie visits. A city dweller’s dream come true! But every extra bit of space has a hidden cost, and the terrace sets off a seismic chain of events, forever changing the shape of their tiny home, and the shape of the world.

Terrace Story follows the characters who suffer these repercussions and reverberations: the little family of three, their future now deeply uncertain, and those who orbit their fragile universe. The distance and love between these characters expands limitlessly, across generations. How far can the mind travel when it’s looking for something that is gone? Where do we put our loneliness, longing, and desire? What do we do with the emotions that seem to stretch beyond the body, beyond the boundaries of life and death?

Based on the National Magazine Award–winning story, Hilary Leichter’s profound second novel asks how we nurture love when death looms over every moment. From one of our most innovative and daring writers, Terrace Story is an astounding meditation on loss, a reverie about extinction, and a map for where to go next.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Aug 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9780063265844

Hilary Leichter

Hilary Leichter is the author of Temporary, which was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, and was longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her writing has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, the New Yorker, and the New York Times. She teaches at Columbia University and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews for Terrace Story

[doha rateb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I did not understand a lot of the plot, but some how catch the sorrow vibes from Stephany and Anny's stories

[Colleen · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

To be honest, the narrator is quite off-putting. Perhaps she was going for a languid drawl but it made me lose interest in the novel. Even my child who often listens to audio books with me says she finds it hard to listen.

[Sharla Nicole · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There were a few moving parts to this story that came together really well, with one exception, in my opinion ( I may have missed am explanation for how the old woman came to be present in the last chapter). Other than that I found although quick, the transition through time was executed smoothly.

There was so much packed into these four parts about love, loss, grief and consequences, it kept gaining momentum as the story progressed.