About Kyleigh
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.
Worse than Strangers
A debut novel for fans of Jane Austen, Elin Hilderbrand, and Gilmore Girls, Worse Than Strangers is a Nantucket-set retelling of Austen’s Persuasion about finding romance, second chances, and a new path in life.
Rose and Lily are best friends first, mother-daughter second, which is good because right now, Lily could really use a friend. Recently fired from her NYC magazine job and heartbroken, Lily has fled to the family cottage in Siasconset. She is shocked when she stumbles across her first love at the grocery store holding hands with his new fiancé—a fiancé he never mentioned on their many, many late-night phone calls.
Rose has secrets, too. A therapist about to start her own private practice, Rose’s world is rocked by the handsome renter staying in their guest cottage, Thomas Wentworth: the one person she thought she would never see again and the man who has always (unfortunately) held her heart.
A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion set against a backdrop of blue and purple hydrangeas, swollen brick sidewalks, tall sea grass, and uniform, shingled houses, Lily and Rose Gardner’s summer journey of second chances, healing, and hope begs the question: Can you repeat the past, and is it ever too late to try again?
Praise
For Worse than Strangers
"For a perfect summer vacation, read Kyleigh Leddy’s delightful, heart-warming novel Worse Than Strangers. It’s a champagne cocktail of old loves, bucket lists, and new romances– with a Jane Austen twist."
– Nancy Thayer, NYT Best-selling author of Summer Light on Nantucket
"This fresh new beach read from Nantucket is a great addition to your beach tote! I could smell the Nantucket hydrangeas from Charleston!"
– Victoria Benton Frank, USA Today bestselling author of The Violet Hour
"I devoured this gorgeous debut, but its poignant lessons on love–especially between mother and daughter–will stay with me much, much longer. Enter Worse Than Strangers into the canon of magic novels set on the magical island of Nantucket!"
– Jessie Rosen, national bestselling author of All The Signs
"Worse Than Strangers is a beach read with fierce intelligence and wit. I loved everything about it: the Austen undercurrent, the ebbs and flows of a moving mother-daughter relationship, the beauty of second chances. Leddy is going to be on every beach chair this summer."
– Isabel Banta, author of Honey
The Perfect Other
For readers of When Breath Becomes Air and The Opposite of Loneliness—in this gorgeous, uplifting, and unforgettable memoir of hope, mental illness, and the unbreakable bonds of family, Leddy brings to vivid, powerful life an inspiring story of two young girls battling a monster far larger than themselves.
All Kait Leddy had ever wanted was a little sister. When Kyleigh was born, they were inseparable; Kait would protect her, include her, cuddle and comfort her, and, to Kyleigh, her big sister was her whole world.
As they grew, however, and as Kait entered adolescence, her personality began to change. She was lashing out emotionally and physically, and losing touch with reality in certain ways. The family struggled to keep this side of Kait private—at school and in her social life, she was still the gorgeous, effervescent life of the party with a modeling career ahead of her and big dreams. But slowly, things began to shatter, and Kyleigh could only watch in horror as her perfect sibling’s world collapsed around her. Kait was institutionalized with what would eventually be diagnosed as schizophrenia, leaving Kyleigh and their mother to handle the burden, shame, and guilt alone.
Then, in January 2014, Kait disappeared. Though they never found her body, security footage showed her making her way onto a big bridge over a river, where it is presumed that she jumped. Kyleigh is left wondering: What could she have done differently? How could this shining light be gone? And how will she find peace without her sister to guide her way there?
Purchase:
Praise
For the Perfect Other
"The Perfect Other reminds us all of the power of our only cradle-to-grave relationships—our siblings—as well as the powerlessness we feel when our brothers or sisters are not well. The book is a triumph—a testament to the healing power of telling the stories of those we love."
—Meg Jay, PhD, author of The Defining Decade and Supernormal: The Secret World of the Family Hero
"The Perfect Other is a stunning mosaic—an impassioned and poetic examination into the impossible ‘why?’ of mental illness. The book, like its subject, is achingly alive: a harrowing but life-affirming odyssey of what it takes to care for someone who is slipping away. Ultimately this is a paean to sisterhood and the excruciating joy of loving someone 'other.'"
—Susannah Cahalan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire and The Great Pretender
"Too often, people living with mental illness and their loved ones suffer in silence. Sharing heartfelt memories and scientific research, Kyleigh Leddy breaks that silence to shine a light on the stigma surrounding mental health and schizophrenia. This deeply personal memoir will give readers greater empathy and understanding in supporting those who are oftentimes misunderstood."
—Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and founder of Lean In and Option B