Full Bloom

In Serritella’s lively sophomore novel (after Ghosts of Harvard), a 30-something New Yorker reckons with societal pressures to have children and a successful career. Having been orphaned as a child by a house fire, Iris Sunnegren longs for stability in adulthood. Following an unexpected breakup with her boyfriend, Ben, Iris decides to freeze her eggs and angles for a promotion at her lighting design firm to pay for the procedure. Though her ideas are passed off by a male colleague as his own, she manages to grab the attention of client Jonathan Wolff, a real estate mogul. Still, the ordeal eats away at her already low confidence until a perfumer friend makes a special perfume for her. Buoyed by this signature scent, she charms Gabe, a glassblower, and opens up to him about her heartache and past trauma. Their relationship is tested when Gabe meets Jonathan and calls him out over his role in gentrification, and also when Iris has a chance to rekindle her romance with Ben. The stakes are further raised when Iris accepts a job offer from Jonathan, only to discover that Gabe’s objections only scratched the surface of Jonathan’s nefariousness. Serritella vividly portrays the intricacies of office politics and dating, and makes it easy to root for Iris as she seeks fulfillment on her own terms. Readers are in for a treat. Agent: Rebecca Scherer, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Aug.)