"The book's every sentence practically thrums with a mother's love, and the overall conclusion is one of great poignance. 'No One You Know' pulls the heart.” — Joshua Ferris, author of A Calling for Charlie Barnes

"A deeply satisfying, intimate novel about the fragile filaments that bind us and the ghosts who shape our life. Trust me, this fantastically vivid study of a family come undone is your next book club book.” — Samantha Hunt, author of The Dark Dark

"A heartbreaking, keenly observed novel about love and loss and all the territories in between.” — Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation and Weather

"A smart and lovely novel about love, death, family, friendship and, importantly, Mid-Hudson Valley real estate. Grab a flat white and be transported by Tourtelot's prose.” — Gary Shteyngart, author of Vera, or Faith

"An emotionally honest and captivating story about grief, family, and the stories we tell in this digital age.” — Kirkus Reviews

• Instagram influencer partnerships
• Targeted ARC campaign
• Netgalley campaign & GoodReads giveaway
• Social media, digital, trade, and consumer advertising
• Independent bookseller and librarian engagement
• National and local media campaign
• Hudson Valley book tour

KEY SELLING POINTS:

FOR READERS OF FAMILY DRAMAS THAT TUG AT THE HEART: Readers who enjoyed Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach and Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane will be pulling for teenage Indie—drowning in grief and struggling to find meaning in the world—and her mother Kate’s desperate attempts to save her.

PERFECT FOR BOOKCLUB DISCUSSION: Readers will be rooting for this family that unravels in the wake of tragedy—and then they will want to talk about the big questions raised in No One You Know: How do we keep our children safe? How do we find meaning in a world where death can touch the things we love?

INSIGHTS INTO PARENTING IN THE 21st CENTURY: According to Jonathan Haidt, author of the bestselling book The Anxious Generation, “We’ve overprotected our children in the real world, and we’ve underprotected them online.” In No One You Know, Kate struggles with how to keep her daughter safe in the real world, and she completely misses the fact that her daughter is disappearing down an internet rabbit hole as she attempts to make sense of grief and death.

AN AUTHENTIC SNAPSHOT OF LIFE IN THE HUDSON VALLEY. Like the characters in this book, the author relocated to the Hudson Valley from Brooklyn. This novel vividly inhabits the cultural landscape of a small town in the Hudson Valley—the class and political divides, the gentrification, the highs and lows of living in a place where everyone knows your name, and, yes, the real estate market. The author’s favorite small-town place to be greeted by name is Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, where she and her family are frequent fliers. They are also big fans of the coffee and book curation (and the comfortable couches) at Rough Draft Bar & Books in Kingston, NY. Her favorite library is Morton Library in Rhinecliff, NY—it’s two blocks from her house, and it’s the beating heart of the small hamlet where she lives.

DEBUT NOVEL FROM A CELEBRATED SEX ADVICE WRITER. For almost two decades, Emma Tourtelot dished about sex, love, and everything in between, as one half of the sex advice duo Em & Lo. Time magazine called her first book, The Big Bang, “This generation’s smarter, funnier, and raunchier version of The Joy of Sex.” What happens when a former sex writer abandons the city for small-town Hudson Valley life, and becomes a middle school librarian instead? She writes this book.

PIERCING INSIGHTS INTO CONTEMPORARY TEENAGEHOOD. Not only is the author the mother to two teenage children, she is also a middle school librarian in the Hudson Valley. From sun-up to sun-down, she is steeped in the teen world. This background allowed her to convincingly write this book as a dual narrative, bringing us inside teenage Indie’s heartbreaking attempts to make sense of the death of her best friend.

TIMELY DISCUSSION OF MEDITATION & CONSCIOUSNESS. A 2022 study found that approximately 60.53 million American adults engaged in meditation. From 2002 to 2022, the proportion of U.S. adults practicing mindful meditation doubled, from 7.5% to 17.3%. Meditation has found its way into schools, the workplace, and even the medical field. Indie rushes headlong into this practice, and, while she initially misinterprets a lot of what she learns, ultimately she gains a new understanding of her place in the world.

RELEVANT TO CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL DIVIDE: Our country is growing more splintered by the day, and people are finding it increasingly hard to understand or have empathy with “the other side.” This book, set in a small town where politics turns neighbors into enemies, encapsulates in miniature what we are all going through. Except in this novel, no one is the good guy or the bad guy. Reading No One You Know —and walking in these characters’ shoes — might just help you bridge that divide.

POETRY IS TRENDING. Thanks to Instagram, Facebook, and other forms of social media, poets like Mary Oliver and Maggie Smith are suddenly household names, with excerpts of their poems shared widely online. Readers who were moved by Maggie Smith’s poem “Good Bones” or Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day” (Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?) will enjoy protagonist Kate’s poetry obsession.

RELEVANT TO OUR CONTEMPORARY HYPER-CONNECTED WORLD. 98% of U.S. adults own a cellphone, with 91% owning a smartphone. 72% of us use social media. We are hyper-connected but spending more time alone than ever before. This novel explores the impact this has on us, especially in times of need: Kate’s online persona vs. the loneliness of her real life, and Indie’s fraught discovery that the internet knows her better than she knows herself. “Forget prayer,” she says. “Here’s your higher power: Hang out on Google long enough and the internet will give you what you need.” 

INSIGHTS INTO SURVIVING GRIEF AND LOSS. The characters in No One You Know each find their own coping mechanisms for surviving the loss of a loved one. Readers who have experienced a similar loss—or readers who are struggling to support a grieving loved one—will appreciate this book’s sensitive exploration of the topic.