
What You Make of Me by Sophie Madeline Dess
From Penguin Press: In this mesmerizing debut from a bright new talent, two enigmatic and unforgettable siblings confront what – and who – they’re willing to sacrifice for their art“Sophie Madeline Dess has conjured one of the most unique and heartbreaking family narratives in recent memory, and with her rendering of the dynamic between Ava and Demetri, she’s given us a sibling duo for the ages.” — Sam Lipsyte, New York Times bestselling author of The Ask and No One Left to Come Looking for YouOn the eve of her first solo show, Ava is feeling defiant. The art gallery acolytes have insisted on writing “explanations” of her paintings for an accompanying catalog, but what do they know of her work? What do they know of her brother, Demetri, whose face echoes across every canvas?After all, Ava and Demetri have only ever had each other. Abandoned first by their mother, who drowned in the Long Island Sound, and then again by their father, who couldn’t see beyond his grief, each sibling has