Worse Than Strangers by Kyleigh Leddy

 

Thank you @kyleighleddy & @gallerybooks for the traveling arc copy. All thoughts are my own.

Worse Than Strangers by Kyleigh Leddy is wonderful sweet retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion.  Rose and Lily are mother and daughter and also best friends.  Their summer is going as usual until someone from the past moves into the other side of their cottage.

This was a delight to read and brought me joy.  I enjoyed the dual POV of Rose and Lily, the Nantucket setting, and finding Persuasion storylines throughout the story. The characters were engaging and I enjoyed following along with Rose and Lily as they navigated romance, family, and learned to embrace life. The themes of second chances, forgiveness, and finding yourself brought the story to life for me.

I highly recommend Worse Than Strangers for the engaging characters, Nantucket setting, and Persuasion storyline.  The perfect summer beach read that I adored. 

I was gifted a copy and not required to write a positive review. 

Kyleigh Leddy is the author of The Perfect Other: A Memoir of My Sister, which is based on her New York Times Modern Love essay, “Years Ago, My Sister Vanished. I See Her Whenever I Want.” Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Cut, Parents, among others. In 2023, she was named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Media list. She holds a BA from Boston College, an MSW from Columbia University, and an MFA from Bennington College. She is a licensed therapist and teaches creative writing at Gotham Writers and Boston College.

Worse Than Strangers is her debut novel.