While a senior at Boston College, Kyleigh Leddy won the New York Times’ 2019 Modern Love college essay contest with her emotionally authentic piece, “Years Ago, My Sister Vanished. I See Her Whenever I Want”—a probing and perceptive exploration of grief and the enduring love between sisters. It was only the second piece of writing Kyleigh had ever submitted anywhere—drawn from the heartbreak of her own experience navigating life since her beloved older sister, Kait, who suffered from schizophrenia, had disappeared five years before. In her much-anticipated memoir, The Perfect Other (Harper; March 15, 2022), Kyleigh Leddy now probes more deeply, and with great clarity and maturity, into the tragedy of her sister’s mental illness and the rippling effects it had on those who loved her.
Kyleigh Leddy is a graduate of Boston College and is currently pursuing an MSW at Columbia University in advanced clinical practice and public policy. Her work has appeared in the New York Times and Parents, as well as other publications. She is based in New York City, and this is her first book.
