Ghost Stories: A Memoir

“I am alive. My husband, Paul Auster, is dead,” writes Hustvedt (Mothers, Fathers, and Others) in the opening sentences of this tender tribute to Baumgartner author Auster, who died of lung cancer in 2024. What follows is a catalog of Auster’s final months, full of hospital stays, emails to concerned friends and family, and Hustvedt’s late-night memories of the couple’s 43 years together. “If your father dies... I will lose my everyday,” Hustvedt recalls telling the couple’s daughter, Sophie, shortly after Auster was diagnosed in 2023. She infuses memories of everyday activities like checking the mail, cooking dinner together, and reading each other’s proofs with a palpable romantic magic. After Auster’s death, Hustvedt wrenchingly captures the way time was “deranged beyond recognition” as she wandered their Brooklyn home in his clothes, ate his favorite meals, and sat staring at his untouched pens and typewriter while being plagued by the aroma of his cigars. The book’s title comes from Auster’s stated desire to return as a ghost; Hustvedt sweetly fulfills his wishes by recounting anecdotes from his life and sharing letters he wrote to her and their children. The result is an elegy that’s at once heart-swelling and devastating. Agent: Amanda Urban, CAA. (May)