Doubles by Nora Gold

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Doubles
Nora Gold

Publication Date: May 1st 2026
Literary Press Group of Canada | Guernica Editions
86 Pages
Amazon | Goodreads | Bookshop.org

Genre: General Fiction | Novellas & Short Stories | Women’s Fiction

I don’t have any power; I’m just a kid. Well okay, a teenager now. Still, the grownups have all the power here. They’re Moscow and I’m little Prague.

This is a short book (novella), but it’s very hard-hitting. I was only two years old in 1968 when this story takes place, but I really felt a kinship with 12-year-old girl. Like me, she excels in math, and that was more common in boys than girls back in the day. Her mother has passed away, and her father is having a breakdown, so she is shipped from the family farm to a home (really not homey at all, though) for troubled youngsters.

She is reassured this is for her protection, not as a punishment, but she quickly realizes that not being a troublemaker makes her ripe for being picked on. This story just goes to show how a vulnerable young lady was failed by the system meant to protect her.

I liked the way a lot of the story was told through journal entries. It made the book feel more personal, and her wit and charm shine through. She uses numbers to calm her chaotic life; it makes her world seem less confusing. Over the six months we spend with her, she starts as a good-natured girl and turns into a juvenile delinquent.

Her loss of innocence shows how being locked up changes her. Even though it is set in 1968 (Beatles references!), it still holds true today—these institutions are failing our youth. But the best part is that these very heavy themes don’t distract from her resilience. She has suffered so much loss: her parent, her home, and her innocence. This was a wonderful story that was very character-driven with lots of emotional depth and intelligence, even though our main character is only 12 years old… and you can’t help but root for her. I often asked myself, did she always have this in her, or did where she was make her that way? love books about the human condition, and it was a wonder to meet her. It’s always a pleasure when a book can bridge the gap between decades and make a fictional character’s troubles feel so up close and personal.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.