Worse Than Strangers (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster, 2026), a new book by 2019 Boston College graduate Kyleigh Leddy, is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Set on Nantucket, Worse Than Strangers is the story of Lily Gardner, unemployed and heartbroken, and her mother, Rose, a therapist whose world is rocked by the handsome renter staying in their guest cottage. Leddy takes Lily and Rose on a journey of romance, second chances, and finding a new path in life. Worse Than Strangers is Leddy’s debut novel. Her previous work is The Perfect Other: A Memoir of My Sister. A licensed therapist, Leddy teaches in the BC Woods College of Advancing Studies’ Master of Arts in Writing & the Human Condition program.