Jody Hobbs Hesler’s debut novel Without You Here tells of family love, complicated by circumstances, mental illness, and powerful, difficult emotional inheritance, exemplified by the profound connection between Noreen and her aunt, Nonie. Like the author’s acclaimed short story collection What Makes You Think You’re Supposed to Feel Better, the novel takes place in and around Charlottesville. Jody lives there, writing and teaching at WriterHouse. We first met at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and caught up this time by phone.

Jody Hobbs Hesler’s debut story collection What Makes You Think You’re Supposed to Feel Better is set in Charlottesville, Virginia — not academic or tourist Charlottesville, but working-class neighborhoods, convenience stores, motels. Risk, heartache, betrayal and failure are common experiences for the author’s characters.