Imagined Life, The by Andrew Porter; 2025. Hardcover.

This is an elegiac novel about a man trying to uncover the truth about the father who left him behind. Steven Mills has reached a crossroads. His wife and son have left which leaves him determined to find out what happened to his own father who disappeared in 1984 when Steve was twelve.

As Steve drives up the coast of California, seeking out his father's friends, family members, and former colleagues, the novel offers us glimpses into Steve's childhood. Each conversation in the present reveals another layer of his father's past and with every revelation, his father becomes more difficult to recognize. And, with every insight, Steve must confront truths about his own life.