You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone

November 13, 2017
Gloomy, chilly Seattle is an ideal setting for Solomon’s dark and thought-provoking debut novel. Fraternal twins Tovah and Adina Siegel found out at the impressionable age of 14 that their mother was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. At 18, the twins take a genetic test to determine if either or both of them will eventually contract HD. The results prove life-altering—one girl tests positive, the other negative—and the twins flounder in different ways. Growing up they were close, but now Tovah and Adina lash out at each other and the world, looking for an escape from heartbreak. Alternating between Tovah and Adina’s perspectives, Solomon’s novel is a moving glimpse into a religious family facing the effects of a tragic disease, a rocky sibling relationship, and two Jewish girls each searching for identity and security; the fallout from the diagnosis strengthens one twin’s faith while the other rebels against it. It’s an intense story that will likely trigger some powerful emotions in readers. Agent: 14–up. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary.