Debra Curtis is a retired professor of cultural anthropology at Salve Regina University, where she specialized in gender and sexuality. This is her first novel. She is the mother of grown-up twin girls and lives in Rhode Island with her husband and her English bulldog, Harry, who is the star of much of her TikTok content.

"The best thing I've read in years . . . A magnificent, spellbinding love story with characters I'll be thinking about for a long time . . . I was utterly enthralled."--Clare Leslie Hall, New York Times bestselling author of Broken Country

"At once sweeping and intimate, Laws of Love and Logic is a gorgeous meditation on roads not taken. Debra Curtis is not afraid to explore big questions about love and loss, but always with tenderness."--Shelby Van Pelt, New York Times bestselling author of Remarkably Bright Creatures

"A captivating debut set against a backdrop of thirty years' worth of American social progress and shifting expectations for women."--J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of The Cliffs and Friends and Strangers

"Powerfully moving . . . I adore a story that spans a long time, as this one does, and I especially love a story that, when I finish, leaves me with a feeling of hope."--Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes

"A sharply observed, deeply felt novel about the lives we build, the loves we choose, the compromises we endure--and the rare and complicated gift of getting to ask 'What if?' one more time."--Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author of The Nest and Good Company

"Debra Curtis writes fearlessly and wisely about family, marriage, addiction, faith, and redemption, where the way forward is simple but never easy: love unconditionally, try not to hurt anyone, and brace yourself for the next loss, the next joy. Curtis is an author you can trust."--Bonnie Jo Campbell, bestselling author of The Waters

"Thought-provoking, hopelessly romantic, a pinch of tragedy--just the kind of novel to get lost in."--Kirkus Reviews

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Pub date: 2026-02-17

Length: 320 pages