'A joy to read' Sophie Ward
'Funny, sexy, heartbreaking' Ann Napolitano
'Wildly inventive and moving' Patrick Ryan
East Village, summer of 1984. Renata is a young dyke-about-town who has the ability to see ghosts, which has been happening more and more frequently as her friends have started dying of what has recently been named AIDS.
So, when her best friend Mark dies, she assumes she'll see him again. There's no way Mark wouldn't give her a chance to say goodbye, would he? But to her disappointment - and increasingly, her concern - Mark doesn't appear.
Renata has other problems, too. A mysterious, police-like force has begun ridding their East Village neighbourhood of anything abnormal or inexplicable. At first, she's sure they're scam artists, but it becomes clear they're actually trapping ghosts. With her band of lovably eccentric pals and lovers, Renata is determined to fight back against the erasure of her friends' memories and the sanitizing of her beloved New York.
Both heartbreaking and healing, tragic and triumphant, Waiting on a Friend is a magical retelling of queer history and a celebration of youth and camaraderie. With pathos and humour, empathy and an edge, Natalie Adler freshly reimagines the past for a new generation, reclaiming the spirit of resistance and determination that would become one of the era's defining legacies.
NETGALLEY READERS LOVE WAITING ON A FRIEND:
'In my top 3 reads of the year so far . . . witty and brilliant' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Genuinely an amazing book that I will definitely be recommending' ⭐⭐⭐���⭐
'Just brilliant. This is one of the most heartfelt books I have read in a long time' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Natalie Adler pulls no punches here . . . This is without doubt going to be one of my books of the year' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'It's a really, really special book. I think everyone should read it' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Literary Fiction
'Funny, sexy, heartbreaking' Ann Napolitano
'Wildly inventive and moving' Patrick Ryan
East Village, summer of 1984. Renata is a young dyke-about-town who has the ability to see ghosts, which has been happening more and more frequently as her friends have started dying of what has recently been named AIDS.
So, when her best friend Mark dies, she assumes she'll see him again. There's no way Mark wouldn't give her a chance to say goodbye, would he? But to her disappointment - and increasingly, her concern - Mark doesn't appear.
Renata has other problems, too. A mysterious, police-like force has begun ridding their East Village neighbourhood of anything abnormal or inexplicable. At first, she's sure they're scam artists, but it becomes clear they're actually trapping ghosts. With her band of lovably eccentric pals and lovers, Renata is determined to fight back against the erasure of her friends' memories and the sanitizing of her beloved New York.
Both heartbreaking and healing, tragic and triumphant, Waiting on a Friend is a magical retelling of queer history and a celebration of youth and camaraderie. With pathos and humour, empathy and an edge, Natalie Adler freshly reimagines the past for a new generation, reclaiming the spirit of resistance and determination that would become one of the era's defining legacies.
NETGALLEY READERS LOVE WAITING ON A FRIEND:
'In my top 3 reads of the year so far . . . witty and brilliant' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Genuinely an amazing book that I will definitely be recommending' ⭐⭐⭐���⭐
'Just brilliant. This is one of the most heartfelt books I have read in a long time' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Natalie Adler pulls no punches here . . . This is without doubt going to be one of my books of the year' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'It's a really, really special book. I think everyone should read it' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Fresh and refreshing, both heartbreaking and uplifting . . . Natalie Adler has given us a gem." - Rabih Alameddine
"This book will linger long after the last page." - Garrard Conley
"A perfect ghost story . . . beautiful, quietly radical, and so heartfelt it hurts." - Gretchen Felker-Martin
"Quirky, queer, poignant, and funny, this book shines with spirit and hope." - Julia Glass
"Adler gets the feeling of the time more right than almost any historical fiction I've read about the early-middle height of AIDS in NYC." - Andrea Lawlor
"At turns funny and wise, sexy and sad, paranormal and devastatingly real - this book made me feel more human." - Molly McGhee
"By turns biting and generous, funny and devastating, Waiting on a Friend evokes friendship in all its complexity - its resentments, tender obsessions, marvelous intimacies, and supernatural power." - Beth Morgan
"A fun, sexy, heartbreaking, inventive whirl of a novel." - Ann Napolitano
"A riveting debut by a writer of tremendous compassion and insight." - Helen Phillips
"A wildly inventive and moving novel that walks a tightrope of emotion with grace and humor . . . an astonishingly brilliant debut." - Patrick Ryan
"Natalie Adler is bringing one incarnation of the AIDS experience into the present where it all belongs. Someone is listening." - Sarah Schulman
"Tender, funny, insightful . . . These characters and this world stayed in my heart long after I finished the book." - Carter Sickels
"A breathtaking novel . . . I absolutely loved it and could not stop reading." - Jiaming Tang
"This book will linger long after the last page." - Garrard Conley
"A perfect ghost story . . . beautiful, quietly radical, and so heartfelt it hurts." - Gretchen Felker-Martin
"Quirky, queer, poignant, and funny, this book shines with spirit and hope." - Julia Glass
"Adler gets the feeling of the time more right than almost any historical fiction I've read about the early-middle height of AIDS in NYC." - Andrea Lawlor
"At turns funny and wise, sexy and sad, paranormal and devastatingly real - this book made me feel more human." - Molly McGhee
"By turns biting and generous, funny and devastating, Waiting on a Friend evokes friendship in all its complexity - its resentments, tender obsessions, marvelous intimacies, and supernatural power." - Beth Morgan
"A fun, sexy, heartbreaking, inventive whirl of a novel." - Ann Napolitano
"A riveting debut by a writer of tremendous compassion and insight." - Helen Phillips
"A wildly inventive and moving novel that walks a tightrope of emotion with grace and humor . . . an astonishingly brilliant debut." - Patrick Ryan
"Natalie Adler is bringing one incarnation of the AIDS experience into the present where it all belongs. Someone is listening." - Sarah Schulman
"Tender, funny, insightful . . . These characters and this world stayed in my heart long after I finished the book." - Carter Sickels
"A breathtaking novel . . . I absolutely loved it and could not stop reading." - Jiaming Tang
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