Description

Years earlier, Will fell deeply in love with Susannah, a married play therapist. Their passionate affair ended when Susannah became pregnant and could not be certain whether the child belonged to Will or her husband, David. She chose her marriage, leaving Will with unanswered questions about both their relationship and the daughter who might be his.

Sixteen years later, David is killed by a van while crossing a Cambridge street. His sudden death devastates Susannah, their daughter Tam and their younger son Terry. After waiting more than a year, Will contacts Susannah again. Their old love gradually returns, and Will becomes part of the grieving family, first as an outsider and eventually as a dependable parental figure.

As an adult, Tam protects herself through casual relationships and emotional detachment. The discovery of her father’s private writing exposes Susannah and Will’s affair, forcing Tam to reconsider everything she believed about her parents, her possible biological father and her own treatment of Evan. When she finally finds Evan again, he is living with another woman. Their reunion confirms that their bond remains, but the novel refuses to give them an easy or conventional romantic resolution.

Told through the alternating perspectives of Will, Tam and David’s father, Tom, With and Without You is a reflective novel about grief, infidelity, uncertain parenthood, second chances and the ways romantic choices continue affecting families long after the original lovers believe the story has ended.