You Will Know Me

August 29, 2016
Ever since their teen daughter, Devon, hinted at a special talent for gymnastics, Katie and Eric Knox have spared nothing to get her whatever she needs to qualify for the Olympics. When the novel opens, Katie is beginning to wonder if they have given up too much. Her doubts increase when a family friend is killed by a hit-and-run driver in a car that seems similar to Eric’s. Reader Fortgang catches every subtle mood shift of Katie’s, from her delight at Devon’s ability to her fear that events, real or imagined, will derail her daughter’s progress. Eric usually sounds uptight and anxious, and when he and Katie are alone, a little furtive. Devon is brimming with entitlement, impatience, and intolerance. Her fellow gymnasts are humorless, snarky, soft-spoken or arrogant. All are almost as driven as their parents, for whom Olympic excellence is all that matters in their lives. A Little, Brown hardcover.

Starred review from May 2, 2016
Thriller Award–winner Abbott (The Fever) takes a piercing look at what one family will sacrifice in the name of making their daughter a champion. For Katie and Eric Knox, nothing is more important than ensuring that their 16-year-old daughter, Devon, has everything she needs to pursue a possible Olympic berth in gymnastics, from round-the-clock training with coach Teddy Belfour at BelStars Gym to a plethora of high-performance leotards and hand grips. Despite a childhood foot injury, Devon is the obvious star of the gym, something the other parents both appreciate (because it raises BelStars’s profile) and quietly resent (because it makes their own daughters look second-rate). When an unexpected death rocks the gym community, Katie is determined not only to shield her daughter from the fallout but also to make sure that Devon’s elite trajectory doesn’t falter. But she can’t help being inexorably drawn to the tragedy and the young man who died, and in the process Katie learns that what she thought she knew about Devon only scratches the surface. Abbott keenly examines the pressures put on girls’ bodies and the fierce, often misguided love parents have for their children. Agent: Dan Conaway, Writers House.

Lauren Fortgang gives this gripping audiobook a supple and quietly dazzling performance. Every character has a recognizable and appropriate voice. When a 16-year-old appears in a flashback, you recognize her voice, but it's younger. (Wow.) Fortgang shifts fluidly from female to male, old to young in this high-stakes family drama set in the world of competitive gymnastics. Abbott delivers an education about "amateur" sports in America and the hidden costs of ambition. It's the backdrop for a deeply involving plot in which a violent death shatters a community. Her characters are vivid, human, and real, and with perfect control, Abbott drops small jagged fragments of the picture into place as in a kaleidoscope until you see, finally and devastatingly, what really happened. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine