Literary fiction · A novel by Robert Wescott
What the Records Left Out
In a family history, a young messenger becomes a legend. In the surviving records, the dates refuse to fit.
Across two centuries, a letter, a disputed tract of land and a handmade fiddle carry versions of the past that cannot all be true. The names that survive are not always the names that belong.
In present-day New Jersey, school-bus driver Daniel Vale has stories of his own: about the company he built, the ventures that failed, and the person he still believes he could become. When he turns to AI to help write a novel, the hardest material to face is what he already knows.
A paperback to keep
$19.99 USD · 290 pages · 6 × 9 inches
Black-and-white interior · Cream paper · Matte cover
Paperback ISBN 978-0-557-61869-9
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Inside the book
Read the opening chapter, “The Yellow Line.”
Read the free opening chapter →
The stories we leave behind
Behind What the Records Left Out
Before the novel,
there was a family story.
Coral gathered the memories and records. Robert followed the questions they left behind. Explore the public family history that inspired What the Records Left Out, from the Frame homestead to the Wescott family fiddle.
What the Records Left Out is a literary novel about inherited history, ambition, and the distance between the lives we live and the stories we leave behind.
The complete novel includes 32 chapters and an author note on the historical sources and creative process.
Read the case study: The Novel That Taught Us When to Stop Using AI →