Storyhound

Chicago-Area Author Releases Emotionally Gripping Novella, ‘Tracks’

New book explores the intersection of the friendship recession, social media, and mental health

LEMONT, IL — Chicago-area author Jesse Severson has released the novella Tracks, an emotionally resonant story about friendship, the corrosive effects of social media on self-worth, and what it really means to be there for someone you love.

Set in the fictional suburb of Warren Falls, Tracks follows Kate and Maria, two young women who meet by chance at a neighborhood running club. What begins as an effortless friendship gradually strains under the weight of diverging life paths, the performance culture of social media, and the quiet drift that weakens so many adult friendships. The story builds toward a devastating moment at a train station.

“When work and home eat up so much of our time and energy, what happens to our friendships? Without realizing it, they become an occasional text. A comment on an Instagram photo. A thumbs-up on a Facebook post.”

— from Tracks

Jordan Durfee from book review website Readers View wrote that Tracks was “so utterly beautiful and emotional and touching, I couldn’t help but cry, especially at the end. The narrative filled me with profound sadness, but even more, it filled me with profound hope. I can’t express enough how brilliant and emotional this novella is; everyone must read it.”

Severson’s intimate portrait of Kate and Maria’s friendship is interspersed with brief philosophical asides on the nature of relationships.

“There’s an epidemic of friends not getting together in person anymore,” Severson said. “I wanted to explore a friendship that is all-too-common in 2026: a slow drift because people get busy and don’t prioritize being together.”

Severson spent more than a decade as an award-winning journalist before transitioning to copywriting at a marketing agency. Tracks is his fourth book and first novella, following novels Cody, The Estate Sale, and ReSet.

More information about Tracks, including early reviews, is available at JesseSeverson.com/Tracks.