I Know the Ants

"Leav captures adolescent girlhood and friendship with incredible specificity . . . . The novel’s dreamlike yet unsettling quality reminds readers how easily the pain of young girls is sensationalized, misunderstood, or exploited through media attention and public fascination with tragedy. This beautiful coming-of-age story wrapped inside a literary mystery is melancholic and deeply reflective as it explores how the past shapes us." — Booklist, Starred Review

A young woman’s life spirals out of control after her childhood best friend publishes a memoir about the tragic events of their adolescence, in this beautiful, powerful novel.
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Mei’s life isn’t what she thought it would be. She’s still entangled in a love triangle with Jacques and Kath that began when they were teens; her parents are drowning in debt; and she’s stuck pulling off identity fraud jobs for her cruel boss, whose nauseating son won’t leave Mei alone.

But Mei’s world begins to truly unravel when she hears her estranged best friend Soey’s voice for the first time in years—being interviewed on the radio about her new memoir, recounting the childhood attack that left Soey with brain damage and killed her younger sister Daiyu. When Mei reconnects with Soey, their encounter kicks off a series of events that culminate in tragedy, thrusting Mei into the public eye. As past and present collide, Mei spirals after Soey implores her to find out who killed Daiyu—a search that leads Mei to uncover what happened that dark day in the woods behind their school, all those years ago.​

Revered for her lyrical imagery, emotional acumen, and thoughtful voice, Lang Leav uses her gifts to brilliant effect, exploring unsolved mysteries, cycles of trauma and abuse, and the answers to a timeless how do you honor someone's memory without losing sight of yourself?