The World to See: A Novel

by Jessica Handler

When teenager Nadine Harvey helps her best friend hide a disturbing secret, she' s also concealing her own deepest she' ll do almost anything to be wanted. Five years and three thousand miles later, Nadine is thrilled when her idol, Celeste— a rock singer known as " the oracle" — befriends her. As Celeste' s career begins to falter, she launches a bold program encouraging women to speak their truths. Nadine eagerly becomes her business partner, but as their ambitions clash, their alliance starts to unravel. Determined to hide their growing rift, Celeste and Nadine invite their mothers to a high-profile awards gala. When painful histories resurface, each woman must confront how she sees herself— and how the world sees her.

346 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication May 26, 2026

About the author

Jessica Handler is the author of the novel The Magnetic Girl, winner of the 2020 Southern Book Prize and a nominee for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, a 2019 “Books All Georgians Should Read,” an Indie Next pick, Wall Street Journal Spring 2019 pick, Bitter Southerner Summer 2019 pick, and a Southern Independent Bookseller’s Association “Okra Pick.” Her memoir Invisible Sisters was also named one of the “Books All Georgians Should Read,” and her craft guide Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Loss was praised by Vanity Fair magazine. Her writing has appeared on NPR, in Tin House, Drunken Boat, Full Grown People, Oldster, The Bitter Southerner, Electric Literature, Brevity, Creative Nonfiction, Newsweek, The Washington Post and elsewhere. Honors include the Ferrol Sams, Jr. Distinguished Writer in Residence at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia and the Kenyon Review Peter Taylor Fellowship. She is a visiting faculty member at West Virginia Wesleyan College’s low-residency MFA, and member of the faculty at Etowah Valley MFA at Reinhardt College. Her novel, The World To See, is forthcoming from Regal House Press. Jessica lives in Atlanta with her husband, novelist Mickey Dubrow.

Reviews

[Lauren Harr · Rating 5 out of 5]

**I received a copy of this book because I am actively working as a publicist for it.**
That said, I found this story and the women at its center deeply relatable. Mothers and daughters, friendships that involve stars and those in their orbits, and coming to terms with oneself, mistakes, secrets, and imperfections be damned, make this story universal. Set largely in Los Angeles during the era of 70s rock and Second Wave feminism, as well as around Boston and the Massachusetts cape, the physical and emotional geography of this book are imprinted for me because the author does such a good job of creating people and places. Coming May 26, 2026!