What You Make of Me

A Novel

De: Sophie Madeline Dess

Narrado por: Candace Fitzgerald

"In the face of tragedy, Dess’s narrator memorably dramatizes the anxiety-inducing exigencies of the creative arts, and the need of artists to remain focussed on their craft."—The New Yorker

“Ms. Dess shrewdly explores the intersections between intimacy and possession.”—The Wall Street Journal

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

On 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 always been the other’s most ardent supporter: Demetri encouraged Ava’s raw talent as a painter, while Ava pushed Demetri to pursue filmmaking. But as they make their way in New York, the codependency that once sustained them soon threatens to be their undoing. Betrayals mount, fueled by Ava’s reckless acts and her disdain for Demetri’s last-ditch efforts to make something of consequence, but what ultimately and irreversibly tips the scales won’t be found on canvas or film. Because now, at thirty-one, Demetri is dying.

As Ava reckons with the meaning of her portraits, what soon emerges from her intimate, offhanded, and mischievous meditations is a stunning and unsettling confession of secrets, epiphanies, rivalry, and infidelity. Vaulting between childhood and the days leading up to Demetri’s death, here is a searing portrait of two remarkable siblings reckoning with the limits of loyalty. Heralding the arrival of an impressive new talent, What You Make of Me lays bare the thin line between success and sacrifice.

©2025 Sophie Madeline Dess (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Extraordinary . . . Despite the raw candor Ava seems incapable of hiding, readers will doubt her . . . But they will not question the energy coursing through What You Make of Me nor the undeniable talent that created it. This is a fierce and unapologetic debut from a writer to watch.”—Shelf Awareness

“Really written (as T. S. Eliot, decades ago, said most fiction is not—as true then as now), with a propulsiveness to the language that I have since encountered in others of Dess’s stories, it was so in an elliptical way, sustaining but not occupying the center of attention. It was wild, finely tuned, and, above all: enigmatic . . . The sense you get is one of sleight-of-hand. The magician’s patter is one thing, but the real action is hiding in plain sight . . . What You Make of Me inhabits the magic circle of childhood, with its limited cast of characters that no outside force can penetrate . . . As in the portraits that compose it, and in Ava’s erratic career, there is tremendous energy in this novel.”—Real Clear Books

“There is no club more exclusive than that of brilliant, close-knit siblings, and Ms. Dess’s challenge is to ensure that readers aren’t also excluded from her characters’ particular mind meld. She does this by focusing on the ruptures that drive them apart, partly in the person of a chic gallery owner who becomes a love interest to both . . . In the juxtaposition of Ava’s paintings with her memories, Ms. Dess shrewdly explores the intersections between intimacy and possession.”—The Wall Street Journal