A Chinese American woman spins tragedy into comedy when her life falls apart in a taut, wry debut novel that grapples with grief, motherhood, and myths—perfect for fans of Joan Is Okay and Crying in H Mart.

A man and a woman walk into a restaurant. The woman expects a lovely night filled with endless plates of samosas. Instead, she finds out her husband is having an affair with a woman named Maggie. A short while after, her chest starts to ache. She walks into an examination room, where she finds out the pain in her breast isn’t just heartbreak—it’s cancer. She decides to call the tumor Maggie.

Unfolding in fragments over the course of the ensuing months, Maggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar follows the narrator as she embarks on a journey of grief, healing, and reclamation. She starts talking to Maggie (the tumor), getting acquainted with her body’s new inhabitant. She overgenerously creates a “Guide to My Husband: A User’s Manual” for Maggie (the other woman), hoping to ease the process of discovering her ex-husband’s whims and quirks. She turns her children’s bedtime stories into retellings of Chinese folklore passed down by her own mother, in an attempt to make them fall in love with their shared culture—and to maybe save herself in the process.

In the style of Jenny Offill and the tradition of Nora Ephron’s hilarious and devastating writing on heartbreak and womanhood, Maggie is a master class in transforming personal tragedy into a form of defiant comedy.

In Kat Tang’s exciting and resonant debut, a “Rental Stranger”—a companion hired under various guises—walks the line between personal and professional in surprising new ways.

Would you hire someone to be the best man at your wedding? Your stand-in brother? Your husband?

In an age where online ratings are all-powerful, Five-Star Stranger follows the adventures of a top-rated man on the Rental Stranger app—a place where users can hire a pretend fiancé, a wingman, or an extra mourner for a funeral. Referred to only as Stranger, the narrator navigates New York City under the guise of characters he plays, always maintaining a professional distance from his clients.

But, when a nosy patron threatens to upend his long-term role as father to a young girl, Stranger begins to reckon with his attachment to his pretend daughter, her mother, and his own fraught past. Now, he must confront the boundaries he has drawn and explore the legacy of abandonment that shaped his life.

Five-Star Stranger is a strikingly vivid novel about the commodification of relationships in a gig economy, isolation in a hyperconnected world, and the risk of asking for what we want from those who cannot give. This is the story of a man who finds out who he is by being anyone but himself.

The Anthropologists is a mesmerizing narrative that captures the essence of modern coupledom, home-building, and expat life in a universal city. Asya and Manu, a young couple, find themselves envisioning a future in a foreign city as they look at apartments. They ponder over the life they wish to create. Can they establish their own traditions and rituals? Whom will they consider family?

Asya, a documentarian, spends her days gathering footage from a neighborhood park, like an anthropologist studying local customs. Her grandmother's words echo in her mind, questioning her focus on the mundane when she was named for an entire continent. Meanwhile, life in Asya and Manu's home countries goes on—parents age, grandparents fall ill, and nieces and nephews grow up, all just out of their reach.

Yet, the world they are creating in their new city expands, becoming something distinctly theirs. As they broaden the horizons of their lives, they are faced with decisions about what and whom to hold onto, and what must be released. Acclaimed by authors such as Lauren Groff and Marina Abramovic, The Anthropologists by Aysegul Savas is a soulful, often humorous, exploration of modern relationships and the quest for a place to call home.

Table for Two, from the bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway, A Gentleman in Moscow, and Rules of Civility, presents a richly detailed and sharply drawn collection of stories set in New York and Los Angeles.

The millions of readers of Amor Towles are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter six stories set in New York City and a novella in Los Angeles. The New York stories, most of which are set around the turn of the millennium, explore themes from the death-defying acrobatics of the male ego to the fateful consequences of brief encounters, and the delicate mechanics of compromise that operate at the heart of modern marriages.

In Towles's novel, Rules of Civility, the indomitable Evelyn Ross leaves New York City in September 1938 with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But as her train pulls into Chicago, where her parents are waiting, she instead extends her ticket to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, "Eve in Hollywood" describes how Eve crafts a new future for herself—and others—in the midst of Hollywood's golden age.

Throughout the stories, two characters often find themselves sitting across a table for two where the direction of their futures may hinge upon what they say to each other next.

Written with his signature wit, humor, and sophistication, Table for Two is another glittering addition to Towles's canon of stylish and transporting historical fiction.

Every story has two sides. Every relationship has two perspectives. And sometimes, it turns out, the key to a great marriage is not its truths but its secrets.

At the core of this rich, expansive, layered novel, Lauren Groff presents the story of one such marriage over the course of twenty-four years. At age twenty-two, Lotto and Mathilde are tall, glamorous, madly in love, and destined for greatness. A decade later, their marriage is still the envy of their friends, but with an electric thrill, we understand that things are even more complicated and remarkable than they have seemed.

With stunning revelations and multiple threads, and in prose that is vibrantly alive and original, Groff delivers a deeply satisfying novel about love, art, creativity, and power that is unlike anything that has come before it. Profound, surprising, propulsive, and emotionally riveting, it stirs both the mind and the heart.

When Vipasha, known as Vee to her friends, is just eighteen and single, she makes the bold decision to have her baby. In doing so, she gives up more than just her promising modeling career. She also cuts ties with her family and Ankush, the man she thought she was in love with.

Fast-forward sixteen years, and Vee now juggles two unusual careers: running a dog-boarding facility and working as a gym instructor. Her son, Aryan, thinks she is the coolest mom in the world and harbors hopes that she will find her Prince Charming one day—something her best friend Suchi also wishes for her.

However, Vee secretly harbors feelings for Saurabh, the quirky vet. Then, out of the blue, Ankush re-enters their lives. Can a decision made at eighteen—more in the throes of lust than love—form the basis of a lifelong relationship? Is there a future for Ankush and Vee?

Vee, Aryan, and Ankush are in for the ride of their lives. No seat belts, full speed, and a very bumpy road ahead.

My cock has an appetite. A huge and very particular appetite: Blonde, curvy, and preferably not a fucking liar... (Although, that's a story for another day.) As a high profile lawyer, I don't have time to waste on relationships, so I fulfill my needs by anonymously chatting and sleeping with women I meet online. My rules are simple: One dinner. One night. No repeats. This is only casual sex. Nothing more. Nothing less.

At least it was, until "Alyssa"... She was supposed to be a 27-year-old lawyer, a book hoarder, and completely unattractive. She was supposed to be someone I shared law advice with late at night, someone I could trust with details of my weekly escapades. But then she came into my firm for an interview—a college-intern interview, and everything fucking changed...

Avec Maman est une fiction qui retrace l'histoire d'un fils et sa maman, que l'on découvre à travers leurs échanges de SMS. Ce récit, à la fois drôle, touchant, et parfois surréaliste, explore les liens entre parents et enfants, ainsi que le décalage entre les générations.

Au fil des pages, on s'attache aux personnages, on en découvre de nouveaux, et on s'identifie. Inattendu, hilarant, et captivant, ce livre nous parle d'une époque où les histoires s'écrivent aussi en SMS.

La construction de cette conversation est enrichie par les dessins de Vivi La Blonde, offrant ainsi différents niveaux de lecture avec des références littéraires, théâtrales, et musicales.

Stijn en Carmen behoren tot de hip, healthy and wealthy. Ze hebben beiden een eigen bedrijf en zijn de trotse ouders van de eenjarige Luna. Aan geld en vrienden geen gebrek. Ze leven als God in Amsterdam.

Totdat bij de mooie en optimistische Carmen borstkanker wordt geconstateerd. Op slag verandert hun wereld in een rollercoaster-rit langs artsen en ziekenhuizen.

De hedonistische Stijn gaat trouw mee naar Carmen's chemokuren en bestralingen, maar stort zich ’s avonds in het nachtleven en op de vrouwen van Amsterdam, Miami en Breda.

Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi is a poignant exploration of human relationships and the complexities of love and separation. Set in the vibrant city of London, this novel delves into the life of a middle-aged writer, who finds himself at a crossroads, contemplating leaving his partner and their two young sons for a younger woman.

This narrative unfolds over the course of a single night, revealing the protagonist's inner turmoil and mixed emotions. He is torn between the allure of newfound freedom and the heart-wrenching prospect of losing his family. The story is a raw and honest portrayal of a man grappling with his desires and responsibilities.

Kureishi's writing is both devastating and brilliant, capturing the essence of modern relationships with unflinching accuracy. The novel's staccato sentences and pinpoint precision offer a stark and sometimes uncomfortable look into the narrator's psyche.

Readers will find themselves immersed in this introspective journey, as the protagonist navigates the agonies and joys of trying to make a life with another person. Intimacy is a thought-provoking and emotionally charged read that will resonate with anyone who has ever faced the challenges of love and loss.