Whoever You Are, Honey

In the stunning debut novel from poet Gatwood (Life of the Party), two young women of disparate means commiserate over their mysterious pasts. Mitty, 28, shares a run-down beach house with her elderly roommate, Bethel, in Santa Cruz, Calif., where she’s lived since running away from home 10 years earlier. The pair are the only permanent residents in their neighborhood, which is teeming with tech engineers and college students. Then a rich and beautiful young woman named Lena moves into the glass “dollhouse” next door, which is owned by her boyfriend, Sebastian. By her own account, Lena feels more doll-like than human, and she has no recollection of her life prior to meeting Sebastian. To prove to herself that she’s alive, she performs outré acts like stabbing herself with tweezers. She’s drawn to Mitty in her quest to feel something, and invites Mitty to ride a roller coaster with her. After Mitty reveals her deepest secret to Lena­—it involves the reason she left home­—the two go to desperate lengths to come to terms with the past. Gatwood crafts three-dimensional characters and orchestrates the plot to an unpredictable climax that will leave readers questioning everything they’ve learned about Lena. It’s a knockout. (July)

Correction: A previous version of this review mistakenly referred to the character Mitty as Milly.