Why Can't I Be You: A Novel

Allie Larkin

Feb 2013 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

At one time or another, everyone has wished they could be someone else. Exploring this universal longing, Allie Larkin follows up the success of her debut novel, Stay, with a moving portrait of friendship and identity.

When Jenny Shaw hears someone shout “Jessie!” across a hotel lobby, she impulsively answers. All her life, Jenny has toed the line, but something propels her to seize the opportunity to become Jessie Morgan, a woman to whom she bears an uncanny resemblance. Lonely in her own life, Jenny is embraced by Jessie’s warm circle of friends—and finds unexpected romance. But when she delves into Jessie’s past, Jenny discovers a secret that spurs her to take another leap into the unknown.

Ratings and reviews

To be able to learn about yourself through writing is amazing. To be able to find pieces of yourself in the work of others is like finding the other glass slipper. Thank you

About the author

Allie Larkin is the internationally bestselling author of the novels Swimming for Sunlight, Stay, and Why Can’t I Be You. Her short fiction has been published in the Summerset Review and Slice, and nonfiction in the anthologies, I’m Not the Biggest Bitch in This Relationship and Author in Progress. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, with her husband, Jeremy, and their fearful, faithful German Shepherd, Stella.