The Leftovers

by Tom Perrotta

absence could warp the mind, make you exaggerate the virtues and minimize the defects of the missing individual.

They both seemed to understand that describing it was beyond their powers, the gratitude that spreads through your body when a burden gets lifted, and the sense of homecoming that follows, when you suddenly remember what it feels like to be yourself.

verisimilitude,

monomaniacs