A grieving father raises Irish-born Maria Delahunty after her mother dies giving birth to her. Later he remarries, and her stepmother, Evelyn, try as she does, is never able to fill the void left by the mother she knew.

In Maria's quest to find herself, she strays the course, leaving college when she's 20 and venturing to New York City, which is referred to as 'the Country of the Lost.' Several lovers and a few thankless apartment-cleaning jobs later, Maria meets and falls in love with a mysterious Brit named Anton. She discovers that for ten years he has been carrying around a photo that might reveal a secret, and explain the sense of loss and incompleteness she has been burdened with her entire life—the existence of an estranged twin. When Rose, the long-lost sister uncovers their father's long-kept secret, she sets out to find her biological family. When they meet, a heavy—and until then inexplicable—weight begins to lift for everyone.

What Are You Like? is a gorgeously written, intricately woven novel about the parallel lives of estranged twins Maria and Rose, the irretrievable losses they experience, the emotional barricades they face, and the invisible-yet-unbreakable connections they have to their identical origins, no matter where they end up.