around him. His forty-year-old wife, Felicia, is in the midst of a midlife crisis and makes wild demands raging from wanting another child, to buying an avocado farm, to vacationing in Australia. His thirteen-year-old daughter, Eloise, is a moody teenager who elevates scowling to an art form but is smart enough to realize the minimum she has to do to get ahead in life. His eleven-year-old son, Vernon, displays emotional and behavioral problems, performs poorly in school, and is apathetic about possibly having to attend a dangerous public school.

As if his family life were not stressful enough, Dr. Fuchs has been selected to be a part of a medical emergency response unit that must be kept top secret. The military is training the unit to handle a terrorist disaster of unknown origin, which could include anything from radiation poisoning to biological or chemical weapons and could occur at any time or never at all. All doctors involved must be ready to diagnose, treat, and isolate anything or anyone at the sound of an alarm, without letting their friends or families know anything about the project. Though they may disagree with their involvement in the program and view the entire exercise as an example of unsubstantiated paranoia, the doctors involved have learned not to question those in charge after hearing once too often “You’re not paid to think, soldier! You’re here to do what we tell you to do! The future of the country depends on your getting the picture the way we tell it.”

Edith, in the midst of her own life crisis, tries to redefine herself by striving to not become a depressed widow, as many of her friends have and as is somewhat expected. Although she is unsure of what exactly her new role may be, she confesses, “I knew what I was not going to do, would not under any circumstances do; I didn’t have the faintest clue about what I was supposed to do.” Momentarily ignoring her identity crisis, she begins to secretly enjoy her time at the medical center and the relationship she develops with Melinda Barclay. Melinda becomes another seemingly unrelated, yet deeply connected character See sneaks in with whom the reader immediately sympathizes. In her first introductions, she is merely a voiceless listener to Edith’s narration as she waits in the waiting room at the medical center for her husband John to undergo kidney dialysis three times a week. As Melinda’s daughter Andrea is introduced and begins to become a major character in the novel, Melinda gains a voice, something the reader has been anticipating since the second chapter, and the reader is introduced to the Barclays.

The Barclays, Melinda, John, and Andrea, are an upper-middle-class family who also reside in Westwood. Andrea’s parents are both professors at UCLA, and Andrea attends the university. When Mr. Barclay begins treatment for kidney disease, the family adopts the medical center as a second home, and Edith becomes a confidant. While in the waiting room, young, blond, and beautiful Andrea notices Danny Lee, a tough Chinese gangster, with whom she had shared a poetry class. Danny also hides from reality within the sanctuary of the waiting room while his relatives avoid making the agonizing decision of whether to take their brain dead uncle off life support. In the midst of personal tragedy and national anxiety, Andrea and Danny fall in love and bring a welcome freshness and optimism to the novel.

While Andrea’s and Danny’s lives change as their relationship strengthens, so too does Edith’s as she abandons the idea of ever developing another relationship, unable to face losing another person she cares for. Simultaneously, Phil’s marriage comes to an end when he discovers Felicia has been having an affair, forever altering their lives and those of their children. Felicia and her new boyfriend, Larry, inform Phil that they intend to send Vernon to an out-of-state military school, having exhausted all other options. In a rash move, Phil takes Vernon and scrambles to make a plan to save his son. He heads to the medical center out of desperation to talk with his mother when an alarm begins to sound summoning the emergency response team to immediately report for duty. Without time to question whether this is the real thing or another drill, Phil ushers everyone out of the hospital so he can escape with his son, abandoning his responsibilities to the hospital and the training he has undergone in exchange for the responsibility of guaranteeing a new life for his son and for himself. Phil’s hasty decision leaves the reader questioning whether this is the end of the world or the beginning.

See took a risk with the structure of her latest novel by narrating each chapter in the voice of a character, with Edith’s chapters alone in first person, allowing the reader glimpses into each character’s psyche, emotions, and mental states. Similar to James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) or William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying (1930) each chapter is named after the primary character it explores. This chapter layout allows the reader to develop a friendship with each character while discovering the interconnections among the characters. Through crossover within almost every chapter, See illustrates how those that are close to us can become total strangers, and total strangers can become intimate friends during trying and anxious times. The connection See draws to seemingly unconnected individuals adds layers of depth to the plot and its protagonists.

There Will Never Be Another You is a triumphant novel that challenges the fear-ridden uncertain times within which Americans find themselves by celebrating the strength of the human spirit, the power of unconditional love, and the importance of trusting one another. See has managed to write a poignant and powerful novel that bravely tackles the threat of terrorism and writes of the hope and perseverance that is found within each of us. See once again forwards the novel, to 2016, and chooses to end the novel on an optimistic, strong, and almost defiant note as Edith, comfortable in her newly defined role and environment exclaims, “Sure, there is terror and war somewhere, and sure, we all will die. But we’re not dead yet!”