Emmy/Connie’s story is revealed in 2 narrative strands 14 years apart, following her decision to leave NY after 9/11. People who knew me...think I’m dead is a great premise, and the whole plot was interesting.

I found the writing really compelling and read the whole book quickly. The only negative was that I really couldn’t warm to Emmy, who was faced with difficult circumstances, but seemed consistently selfish and cut-off.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.

The events of 9/11 changed the lives of thousands of people. This is a story of one of them.
Connie Prynne has been living in California for 14 years with her daughter, Claire. It's just the two of them , always has been. Connie hasn't even dated, her sole focus has been on Claire all these years. There's no family to visit or help out, it's just Connie and Claire. But a medical diagnosis changes things. Connie is suddenly in a situation where she has got to get some things in order "just in case." And that includes coming clean about her life pre-Claire and pre-California. The life she had and lived as Emily Morris and the one she chose to let die on 9/11.
I liked the story overall but Emily/Connie I kinda hated. She was awful. Selfish, bratty, lacking in human kindness and compassion, whiny, just awful. And her years living as Connie didn't seem to really cure her of that, she just hid it better. I was wishing Drew would wise up and kick her to the curb before she could totally devastate his heart. It was a good story, perhaps a bit tedious in some places - of course I might feel that way because for a lot of the book I wanted to kick Emily/Connie in the shins - with Emily whining about her lot in life, as if the people around her were in a conspiracy to make her miserable. The overall theme of the book did make me wonder, however, if there was anyone from the tragedy of 9/11 that used it to free themselves from one life and start another?

Sometimes you come upon a book at just the right time. I'd been in quite a reading (and reviewing) slump when I picked up Kim Hooper's People Who Knew Me. It was an absolute delight to read. I loved the character development, the secrets that were slowly revealed and how it all came together in the end.