Description

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From the author of the international bestseller Papa Hemingway, based on his own experiences: the story of a man struggling to overcome a rare syndrome that causes terrifying hallucinations, who eventually, despite the odds, finds love.

Chet Tremaine is living his best life. A successful lawyer with a loyal best friend, the arts and culture of New York City at his doorstep, and a peaceful retreat in Connecticut, Chet has it figured out. Even when a freak tennis accident leaves him blind in one eye, Chet is confident he'll be able to bounce back.

But then he starts hallucinating: unknown children playing in his living room, pine needles seasoning his salad, wire grids barring access to his bathroom. His doctor allays his worst fears, only to deliver an even more shocking diagnosis: Chet's eye injury has left him with Charles Bonnet syndrome, and this rare disease is incurable. Chet is going to be plagued by these hallucinations for the rest of his life.

His social life impaired, his job in jeopardy, Chet is close to becoming a recluse when he helps a woman who's collapsed on a Manhattan street corner. She turns out to be Emma Vicky, a warm and witty British actress who suffers from Ménière's disease, a condition that causes severe vertigo. Like Chet, she feels restrained by her chronic illness and terribly isolated--until their meeting renews her desire to open up, let another person in. But Chet can't make the same leap. Instead, he decides to make a final Hail Mary attempt to find a cure, embarking on a spiritual quest that will take him all the way to the mountains of Nepal. By turns funny, harrowing, and inspirational, Kissing the Wind is A. E. Hotchner's final, and finest, achievement.
 
AN ANCHOR ORIGINAL.

About the Author

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A. E. HOTCHNER was the author of the international bestsellers Papa Hemingway, Doris Day: Her Own Story, Sophia, and his own memoir, King of the Hill. He adapted many of Hemingway's works for the screen, and he was the founder, with Paul Newman, of Newman's Own. He died in 2020 at age 102.

Praise For…

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“A deep understanding of unpredictable relationships lives in Kissing the Wind. It’s a remarkable story and it reminds me of A. E. Hotchner’s humor, spirit, and love of life.”
—​Whoopi Goldberg

“[A] well-done gift to readers.” 
—​Dale Singer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Kissing the Wind is haunting. Hotch’s artful depiction of human behavior in milieux ranging from the familiar to the exotic drew me in.” 
—​Carole King

“Chet’s journey as he struggles to adjust to a life completely changed by the downward drive of a tennis ball is a sobering reminder of how fragile our happy existence really is. Yet this book may be most notable for what it isn’t. It’s not dark and grim; you don’t feel as though you’ve been pulled through the wringer when you put it down. Chet finds happiness. And you gain new appreciation for the simple, yet most profound things in life—that your senses are telling you the truth.” 
—​Wendy Migdal, Fredricksburg Free Lance-Star

“I have read all of A. E. Hotchner’s work over his illustrious career. For this, his last story, he found the vital spark that kept him so youthful, imaginative, and in search of love for all of his one-hundred-and-two years. Kissing the Wind is his crowning achievement.”
—Gay Talese

“A charming drama. . . . Hotchner’s fans will love this endearing capstone to a venerable literary career.” 
—​Publishers Weekly