The House on Ashbury Street

Deb Travis, a park ranger in Death Valley, has spent the last thirty years grieving the death of her brother, Ron. He was the light of her life, her mentor and protector, a beautiful young man with an easy laugh and a bright green thumb. 

When Deb receives a disturbing comment on her website, a tribute to Vietnam Vets like Ron, she begins to question everything she’d learned to accept about his death. As she begins digging into the past, she reconnects with Nikki Gold, who she once knew as Nik-Knock, the adorable little girl who grew up in the house on Ashbury Street with her mother, Willow, and others, including Ron. Nikki tells Deb that Ron was the closest thing to a dad Nikki ever knew. Now a child therapist in Brooklyn, Nikki’s work with a young client has triggered memories from her own childhood. Something happened to her at the house on Ashbury Street, but she’s not sure what.

As Deb and Nikki search for answers together and separately, they are met with even more questions. What painful truth was Ron hiding from his housemates? Does shedding light in the darkest corners of the people we love bring us any closer to them? Or are the secrets we keep sometimes the only thing saving us?

Praise & Reviews

“Susie Hara delivers a knock-out novel richly steeped in psychology, history, and heart. A literary thriller with bite.” 
–Lee Kravetz, author of The Last Confessions of Sylvia P.

“The story’s growing intrigue is engrossing . . . chapters jump between 2005 and 1975 and alternate between tales of Deb, Nikki, and, occasionally, other housemates. Each character’s recollection assists in reconstructing a piecemeal account of an extremely fateful day. A . . . compelling story.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Set in both 1975 and the present, Susie Hara’s beautiful novel deftly explores the aftereffects of held secrets and the healing power of community. With real life historical events woven into the narrative, The House on Ashbury Street shows us how national trauma becomes personal trauma, and how we find our way out of it.” 
–Janis Cooke Newman, author of A Master Plan for Rescue

“I loved The House on Ashbury Street. Susie Hara explores the way we carry loss, love, and trauma through the years. Two women, haunted by the past, join together to find out what really happened on Ashbury Street in San Francisco in 1975. Hara writes with grace and compassion about these compelling characters and those turbulent times.” 
–Ellen Sussman, New York Times bestselling author of French Lessons and other novels