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Laura Nowlin
Laura Nowlin writes young adult fiction that explores the complexities of love and loss. Her books, like If Only I Had Told Her and If He Had Been With Me, have resonated with readers who appreciate her honest storytelling.
If He Had Been With Me
Synopsis
Autumn Davis and Finny Smith were born a week apart to mothers who have been best friends since childhood. They grew up next door to one another and were inseparable, until a kiss at the end of eighth grade broke something neither of them knew how to name. By high school they had stopped speaking: Finny to the soccer team and the popular crowd, Autumn to a group of outsiders and a long relationship with Jamie, while Finny dated Sylvie.
Narrated by Autumn across four years, Laura Nowlin's debut is the story of everything that kept the two of them apart and of the single rainy August night that made it permanent. Finny and Sylvie were arguing as he drove down a slick road, and Autumn was not with him. What that argument was about — the story that lurks between the facts — is what she has to tell.
First published by Sourcebooks Fire on 1 April 2013, the novel later reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Nowlin returned to the same events in the companion novel If Only I Had Told Her (2024), which retells them from Finny's, Jack's and Autumn's perspectives.
Genres
Characters
Autumn DavisProtagonist
The narrator. A quiet, bookish girl who spends high school on the fringes of the social order and in a long relationship with Jamie, while never quite letting go of the boy next door.
Finny SmithProtagonist
Phineas 'Finny' Smith, Autumn's next-door neighbour and childhood best friend, born a week after her. Kind and well-liked, he becomes a soccer player and drifts into the popular crowd.
Jamie (If He Had Been with Me)Supporting
Autumn's boyfriend through most of high school — patient with her depression and genuinely good to her, which is part of what makes her feelings for Finny so hard to face.
Sylvie (If He Had Been with Me)Supporting
A cheerleader and Finny's girlfriend. She is in the car with him on the August night the book keeps circling back to.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a sequel to this book?
The companion novel If Only I Had Told Her exists and explores the same timeline and events from the perspective of the male lead, Finny.
Does the author have a specific inspiration for this story?
The author has stated that the narrative was significantly inspired by a dream she experienced.