English Literature professor at Concordia University and Dawson College Alecsandra Kakon’s THIS IS WHY I NEED YOU, in which four lifelong friends explore romance, motherhood, sexuality, and loss, forcing them to confront the strength of their bonds and the direction of their lives, North American English rights to Kenna Barnes at ECW Press, for publication in spring 2026, by Alexandra D’Amico at Transatlantic Literary Agency.
Set against the multi-cultural landscape of Montreal and told in a addictive multi-POV narrative, THIS IS WHY I NEED YOU is a commercial fiction novel that perfectly captures the sentimentality of lifelong friendships and the realities of life as a thirty-something.
Follow Valentina, Kiara, Fay, and Zinnia through a year filled with ups and downs as they navigate adulthood and find their balance. They are all geared up to reconnect on their tenth annual girls’ trip that brings them together from their homes in different cities. But when the weekend proves to be a series of secrets, snide remarks, and non-stop bickering, the tension escalates in a fight calling their nearly twenty-year friendship into question.
Fay and Zinnia’s secret affair blows up in flames when Fay gives Zinnia an ultimatum before they head home to Toronto. But with a husband and three kids in the balance, Zinnia can’t go all in with Fay, and Fay doesn’t understand how Zinnia is willing to sacrifice what she knows to be love just to go back to her unhappy marriage.
Kiara heads back to Miami with the big realization that she can no longer take the abuse she’s been experiencing at the hand of her gaslighting fiancé, Wren, but when she discovers she’s pregnant, she decides to give their relationship one more chance.
Meanwhile, back in Montreal, Valentina’s life teeters on the edge of change; a deliberate push against the monotony she’s used to. But her decision to shake things up reveals deeper uncertainty. As she grapples with her father’s heart attack, taking over his fashion empire, abandoning her writerly aspirations, and a failed-proposal, Val is not where she thought she’d be at thirty. Between flailing art galleries, body positive initiatives, break ups, and steamy make ups, these women go through it all to realize that life is much harder without your best friends by your side.
Alecs Kakon holds an MA in Hispanic Literature and a PhD in Comparative Literature. Her doctoral work focused on studying the anatomy of silence in complex traumas through a feminist and decolonial lens. Alongside her academic pursuits, she published a weekly blog entitled My Profile Projects, rooted in narrative therapy to dispel the myth of disconnection by telling the collective memoir of 52 womxn. An advocate for inclusion in both literature and life, Alecs leads an educational program based on her picture book: Sometimes, providing continued training for K-11 teachers on how to create more inclusive environments in schools. Alecs lives in Montreal with her three larger-than-life children. You can find her on Instagram @alecskakon sharing her favourite books.
Alecs is represented by Alexandra D’Amico.
Congratulations Alecs!