Hilary Leicther's particular brand of surrealist fiction takes metaphors and makes them tangible. Her debut novel, Temporary, followed a nameless, archetypal temp worker from one gig to the next. As the jobs grow progressively stranger, their strangeness bleeds into her personal life. In this episode, I talk to Leichter about her new novel, Terrace Story, in which a struggling family find a spacious terrace — one that seems to defy the laws of physics — behind the linen closet of their tiny, New York apartment. It is a novel about the impact each of us has on the world around us, and the hidden depths we all contain.