The Remedy for Love

“Brilliant . . . A tale that is as gripping as any Everest expedition--and that is also tender and terrifying and funny and, in the end, so true it seems inevitable . . . I’m not sure there’s another American writing today who can lay down a love story, or any story, with the depth and appeal and freshness of Bill Roorbach.” —Peter Heller, author of The Dog Stars and The Painter

When the “Storm of the Century” threatens western Maine, Eric closes his law office early and heads to the grocery store. In line ahead of him, an unkempt and seemingly unstable young woman comes up short on cash, so Eric offers her twenty bucks and a ride home. Trouble is, Danielle doesn’t really have a home. She’s squatting in a cabin deep in the woods: no electricity, no plumbing, no heat. She’ll need food, water, and firewood just to get her through the storm, and there’s a whole long winter ahead. Fending off her violent mistrust of him, he gets her set up, departs with relief, and climbs back to the road, but--winds howling, snow mounting--he finds his car missing, phone inside. In desperation, he returns to the cabin. And as the storm intensifies, these two lost souls are forced to ride it out together.

The Remedy for Love is an intensely moving, frequently funny story about the truths we reveal when there is no time or space for artifice.

“A superbly grown-up love story . . . Another expertly delivered portrait of the world from Roorbach, that poet of hopeless tangles.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred

“One of the best novels of this or any year . . . A flat-out funny, sexy, and poignant romantic thriller.” —David Abrams, author of Fobbit