Three best friends from college, burning brightly on the cusp of adulthood, face a loss that tests and transforms them, in this bold, cathartic debut

“Extraordinary. Lyrical, inventive, perfectly observed and utterly original,  Julia Pike’s novel about love and loss among four college friends is bound to be a classic in its genre.”—Miranda Cowley Heller, author of The Paper Palace

“Oh, to be young and in love with your friends, life rolling out in front of you like a golden ball. For me, Don't You Miss It was a massive hit of nostalgic dopamine…I couldn't put it down.” —Catherine Newman, author of Sandwich

Hannah, Vera, June, and Peyton have spent four years of college tying their lives into one happy, inextricable knot. They share secrets, fears, inside jokes, and elaborate traditions. They paper over one another’s flaws and challenge one another’s assumptions. Whatever comes their way after college, they know they'll face it together. But one fizzy spring night just before graduation, an unthinkable accident closes the door to that future. The group of four becomes three, who must now cross the threshold into a different adulthood than the one they’d imagined.

Set over the course of one pivotal summer, Don’t You Miss It moves propulsively between the lives of the three remaining girls as they navigate grief, pursue connection, and try to get their adult lives off the ground. One character discovers romance, a second falls out of love, and a third seeks dangerous distraction, all as the novel circles closer and closer to a bittersweet secret waiting to be exposed, a truth that will further transform them.

With a sharp, satisfying sense of humor, a jubilant depiction of young love (romantic and platonic), and a pitch-perfect ear for contemporary culture, Don’t You Miss It is a warm, infectious ode to friendship and a reminder that true connection with others is often how we come to know ourselves. Through her life-affirming story, author Julia Pike understands the bonds that keep us moving forward, even when what we really want, more than anything, is to go back.