Gingko Season

The hypnotic debut from Elegant chronicles a Chinese American woman’s watershed friendships in Philadelphia. Penelope Lin, 25, prefers to lead a quiet and solitary life. During an errand for her museum job, she meets cancer researcher Hoang Dinh, who tells her he’s about to be fired for freeing his lab’s mice instead of euthanizing them. The pair develop an immediate connection punctuated by witty banter. They run into each other again at a hotel bar, where Hoang’s now working as a bartender. Following these initial encounters, Penelope can’t get Hoang off her mind, so her college friend Apple, who has begun dating Hoang’s coworker Gus, hatches a plan for Penelope to see him again. The nascent romance seems like a sure thing, except that Penelope’s still getting over a heartbreak in college, and her feelings for Hoang are complicated when she unexpectedly reconnects with her ex. The author sustains the tension between Penelope and Hoang while broadening the novel’s scope with intriguing subplots, such as Penelope’s involvement with Gus and Hoang’s attempt to unionize his workplace. It’s a charming tale of a young woman’s blossoming. (May)