The Laws of Attraction

＂The Laws of Attraction＂ is Howard Reiss’ third novel. Howard Reiss’ second novel, ＂The Year of Soup＂ was inspired by a dinner at a small restaurant in Northampton, Mass. when an old professorial looking gentlemen with a bottle of wine in a paper bag sat down at a table in the corner and was immediately joined by the young, female proprietor and chef. Although he couldn’t hear their conversation, he tried to imagine it and their stories as well. This novel received the Silver Medal for Best Fiction in the North-East Region at the Independent Publisher Book Awards in 2013. Howard Reiss’ first novel, ＂A Family Institution,＂ published in 2011, was based on a true incident involving the discovery of an aunt hidden from the family who spent most of her life in Pilgrim State Hospital. The main character’s quest for the truth about what happened takes him to Pilgrim State where he takes a job in the records department, learns a lot about how the mentally ill and, in particular, his aunt was treated in the 1950s, and in the process turns his life and family upside down. It’s a serious subject approached with a strong comic touch and has been a growing favorite of book clubs around the country.