Authors Interviewing Characters: Emma Tourtelot
No One You Know by Emma Tourtelot (She Writes Press, January 2026) is a dual-narrative mother-daughter story about a family unraveling in the wake of a huge tragedy in a small town. Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An emotionally honest and captivating story about grief, family, and the stories we tell in this digital age.”
NO ONE YOU KNOW
For fans of Alison Espach and Claire Lombardo, a poignant and thought-provoking debut novel about the fraught bond between mothers and teen daughters, the ripple effects of a tragic event in a small town, and the search for meaning after loss.
What if the only way forward is to let go of everything you know?
Kate’s life in the Hudson Valley seems picture-perfect: a thriving career as a realtor-slash-momfluencer, a devoted husband, and a strong bond with her brilliant teenage daughter, Indie. But when Indie’s best friend dies suddenly, their idyllic small-town haven begins to crumble. Kate and Ethan lose their footing, and Indie, alone in her grief, falls down an internet rabbit hole of nihilism and existential despair.
As Indie searches for meaning in a world that feels random and cruel, Kate struggles to reconcile her carefully curated online persona with the raw, unyielding grief tearing her family apart. When long-buried family secrets rise to the surface, she is forced to confront unsettling truths that challenge everything she thought she knew—about marriage, motherhood, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.
Told in the dual voices of a mother and daughter grappling with loss, No One You Know is filled with poignant observations on parenthood, best friendship, class and political divides, infidelity in a small town—and the bitter truth that death can touch everything we love.
INTERVIEW WITH KATE CAMPBELL (mom, wife, “momfluencer,” realtor, writer)
What’s your favorite book of all time?
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I have a quote from this book tattooed across my inner arms: The world was hers / for the reading.
What’s your favorite book from your childhood?
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. It still makes me cry.
What’s your favorite poem?
“The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver. Or maybe her poem “Wild Geese.” Anything by Mary Oliver, really! I don’t attend church these days, but reading her poetry feels a lot like prayer.
What’s your favorite podcast?
The Ezra Klein Show. I like the way he engages with the world. He’s so calm, thoughtful, and well-read. And I appreciate that he’s open to being wrong.
What’s your favorite/least favorite thing about living in a small town in the Hudson Valley?
Favorite: Everyone knows your name. Least favorite: Everyone knows your business.
What five items could you not live without?
Decent coffee. Slippers. My phone (just being honest!). Burt’s Bees tinted chapstick. Converse high-top sneakers.
Someone your age you admire?
Joanna Goddard from CupofJo.com and Big Salad on Substack. She is so warm and open-hearted with her readers. And the comments section of her websites are the gold standard when it comes to genuine online community.
What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re in a bad mood?
I own this book called The Poetry Pharmacy by William Sieghart. It’s a poetry anthology organized by what you’re feeling right now (grief, rage, loneliness, despair, etc.). The idea being, if you’re feeling off in some way – there’s a poem for that. It always helps.
What makes you laugh out loud?
Anything Catherine Newman writes. Especially Sandwich and Wreck.
What makes you cry?
Photos of my daughter when she was tiny. There’s that saying, The days are long but the years are short. Well, I’m running out of years before Indie leaves home. Now, even the days are short.
What makes you mad?
Politics.
What scares you?
Politics.
How do you show someone you love them?
Caretaking is my love language. I bake for them or do their laundry or bring them a latte.
INTERVIEW WITH INDIE CAMPBELL (15-year-old daughter)
What’s your favorite book of all time?
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. She was 18 when she wrote it! And people have been misunderstanding her ever since – for more than two hundred years. But I did like the recent movie adaptation starring Jacob Elordi. I feel like it’s the first movie adaptation that Mary Shelley would actually approve of.
What’s your favorite book from your childhood?
My mom probably thinks it’s the picture book City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems. But that was her favorite book to read to me. It’s about how Country Frog dies when the seasons change. The life cycle of a frog does not make him a good long-term friend, and City Dog has to start over with Country Chipmunk as his new best friend. I know, right? I can’t believe my mom read that to a small child. I preferred The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton. The animals exercise on the boat deck in their pajamas, under the seas, then the ocean rocks them to sleep. It’s magical.
What’s your favorite poem?
Hard pass. Poetry is my mom’s thing. I’m sure she gave you like ten. Right?
What’s your favorite podcast?
Making Sense with Sam Harris. I like the way he talks about consciousness and the illusion of the self.
What’s your favorite/least favorite thing about living in a small town in the Hudson Valley?
Meh, it’s fine I guess. I don’t love how everyone is always up in your business, though.
What five items could you not live without?
I don’t need anything. This planet already has too much stuff. Humans treat it like a giant landfill.
Someone your age you admire?
Most people my age suck. They’re too busy doom-scrolling to notice that the planet is basically on fire. Greta Thunberg gets it, though.
What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re in a bad mood?
I play piano. So long as no one’s home. I don’t need my mom hovering in the next room being all weird and proud about how well I play. I want to play for myself, not for her.
What makes you laugh out loud?
My dad, especially when he doesn’t mean to be funny. Also FailArmy videos. Especially door cam videos of people slipping on ice. So long as no one actually gets hurt! I’m not that mean.
What makes you cry?
Thinking about my best friend Maddy. Thinking about how she’ll never get to grow up.
What makes you mad?
Thinking about the drunk driver who hit Maddy.
What scares you?
The future.
How do you show someone you love them?
I don’t. They know.
No One You Know by Emma Tourtelot is available now wherever books are sold. Signed copies can be ordered from Oblong Books in Rhinebeck.
About the Author
Emma Tourtelot is the co-author of eight nonfiction books about sex and relationships, as one half of the celebrated advice duo Em & Lo, and she has penned regular columns for New York, Glamour, and the Guardian, among others. After being a sex advice writer for almost two decades, Emma is now a middle school librarian in the Hudson Valley, which turns out to be a lot more controversial than her first career. She currently lives in Rhinecliff, NY, with her husband, two teenage children, and two dogs. No One You Know is her first novel. Find out more at EmmaTourtelot.com or on Instagram @emmatourtelot.
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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