Noreen, twenty-seven, is the same age as her beloved Aunt when she committed suicide.
When Noreen was little, she had a special connection to her Aunt Nonie, her namesake and kindred spirit. They seem to understand each other in a way that no one else can. But what Noreen is too young to understand is that her aunt is spinning out of control, her grasp on reality slipping, her alcohol use accelerating, her personal life in shambles. Noreen's mom, Nonie's sister, tries to help-jobs, housing, counselors-but she's not getting better.
The only thing Nonie can hold onto is her niece, whom she loves more than anything in the world. But when Noreen is playing on a tire swing under Nonie's supervision there's an accident, sending Noreen to the hospital and Nonie into a spiral from which she will not recover.
From that day in 1980 to the last months of 1999, Noreen's life spirals around the axis of Nonie's suicide, tightening the past's pressure on the present.
Now an adult, Noreen finds herself a young mother trapped in a marriage with a controlling, manipulative husband. Or is she? She is haunted by the memory of her aunt, and she is afraid her own grasp on reality slipping away.
Without You Here is about generational trauma, mental illness, sloppy family dynamics, dangerous marriages, and the beautiful, redemptive nature of affection and love. In the end Noreen is left to ask: Will her life forever be defined by her aunt's zest for life or her untimely death? And can she stop history from repeating itself?