cover image Loved One

Loved One

Aisha Muharrar. Viking, $30 (320p) ISBN 978-0-593-65584-9

In this witty debut from Parks and Recreation writer Muharrar, a woman deals with her complex feelings for an old friend after his sudden death. The story begins in San Francisco, where Julia Hendricks, 30, gives the eulogy for Gabe Wolf-Martel, 29, a musician who died from a fall in a hotel bathroom. In flashbacks, Julia and Gabe meet in Barcelona the summer after graduating from high school and briefly date before he goes off to indie rock stardom. Four years later, they run into each other in Los Angeles, where she is going to law school, and she takes comfort from his bad style (“a prayer for the rejected: Oh if you be noble and true, may you be blessed with running into the boy who dumped you after he’s had a terrible haircut”). Wishing to better understand Gabe and her feelings for him after his death, she travels to London to visit his most recent ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth, a London restaurant owner. Muharrar endears with her candid portrayal of Elizabeth’s and Julia’s messy emotions, and with her gimlet-eyed depiction of the ever-longing and ever-spurned Julia. This brims with insights into the blurry boundaries between love and friendship. Agent: Marya Spence, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Aug.)