You Know Who You Are: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

A gorgeous novel of family life, You Know Who You Are is the story of the Vine family, Arthur, Alice, and their three children. The eldest, Will, is well-mannered and academically driven. The youngest, Cara, is a sweet little charmer. Jacob, the middle child, is less sure of who he is. He’s funny, he’s impulsive, and he is often held hostage by his urges to make chaos. But when their mother, Alice, falls ill, Jacob begins to experiment—guiltily, nervously—with the special freedoms conferred on the motherless. Following the Vines as Jacob moves through high school, college, and beyond, You Know Who You Are is a wise, funny, elegiac novel of moving on, pulling together, and answering that most complicated of questions: who will you decide to become? Traces fifteen years in the lives of Maryland suburb middle child Jacob and his two siblings, from his adolescent experiments with freedom during their mother's illness to his experiences as a young adult