The Next Time You See Me: A Novel
Jones’ debut novel, following her short story collection Girl Trouble (2009), follows the intersecting effects of one woman’s disappearance on residents of a small Kentucky town. Middle-school teacher Susanna becomes concerned when she finds her older sister, Ronnie, is missing. The two share a complicated relationship—Ronnie is a hard-partying factory worker while Susanna is a mild-mannered wife and mother. When Susanna launches a widespread search, it unexpectedly connects the lives of other townsfolk. Such as Emily, a tragic 13-year-old outcast whose daydreams may well reveal a dangerous secret, and downtrodden Wyatt, a fiftysomething blue-collar worker who begins to confront a lifelong emotional void after meeting and falling in love with a local nurse. Meanwhile, there’s Tony, the failed athlete who has returned to his hometown as the detective assigned to Ronnie’s case. As the search for Ronnie intensifies, Susanna begins to question the stagnancy in her own life, while other characters confront their perceptions of self-worth. Jones’ well-crafted tale captures small-town nuances while exploring the individual psychologies of her characters and their struggles. --Leah Strauss--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.