When teenager Nadine Harvey helps her best friend hide a disturbing secret, she' s also concealing her own deepest truth: she' ll do almost anything to be wanted. Five years and three thousand miles later, Nadine is thrilled when her idol, Celeste- a rock singer known as " the oracle" - befriends her. As Celeste' s career begins to falter, she launches a bold program encouraging women to speak their truths. Nadine eagerly becomes her business partner, but as their ambitions clash, their alliance starts to unravel. Determined to hide their growing rift, Celeste and Nadine invite their mothers to a high-profile awards gala. When painful histories resurface, each woman must confront how she sees herself- and how the world sees her.
"Handler brings her trademark scything gaze and compassionate understanding of human nature to this vivid tale of two women navigating their relationships with their mothers, their entwined histories, and their music. Her nuanced exploration of how art, lies, and community shape female identity is lived out by characters so real, I had to remind myself that they were fictional. This is a powerful, compulsively readable story that will stay with me for a very long time."
Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of Never Have I Ever and With My Littl
"The World to See" is an intricately crafted portrayal of mothers and daughters felled by loneliness and longing for connection. Handler's use of artful metaphors delights the reader while highlighting the complexities of female identity and relationships. These vivid characters exploring and claiming their stories will stay with you long after you finish the book." - Mimi Zieman, award-winning author of Tap Dancing on Everest "Long before Taylor Swift, and even before Madonna, there was audacious and wildly talented Celeste on stage, telling the world what girls want. In this intricately braided story about daughters and mothers, with the female rocker's art at its center, song carries the repressed desires that connect generations of American women. Jessica Handler has written a beautiful, searing tale of those who struggle between holding themselves back and pushing themselves forward-a tale of all women."
