Liquid

A most anticipated book of the season for Oprah Daily, Literary Hub, Electric Literature, Book Riot, WBUR and LGBTQ Reads. 'Sexy, sly, daring' Justin Torres, National Book Award-winning author of Blackouts 'The smoothest, smartest book I've read in quite some time' Paul Beatty, Booker Prize-winning author of The Sellout 'Loving, cutting, mournful, and hilarious' Bryan Washington award-winning author of Family Meal and Memorial 'My career had gone nowhere. My love life was non-existent. And as for s*x - here I was, home alone on a Saturday night with a chick flick playing on my laptop because I didn't own a TV. You can draw your own conclusions.' Our protagonist always believed herself to be the smartest person in the room. But a couple of years on from earning a fancy PhD, she's still broke, single and stuck in a job going nowhere. One option remains: marry rich. Her summer becomes a whirlwind of dating: martinis with a lazy heir, board games with a butch producer and a Venmo request from a 'socialist' trust-fund babe. However, when some unexpected and tragic news takes her - and her project - to Tehran she is forced to ask and answer some overdue questions about family, connection and, terrifyingly, her own purpose in life and in love. A riveting spin on a classic romantic comedy, Liquid delivers a modern tale of romance, loss and belonging in a gorgeous high-wire voice that explodes off the page with wit, verve and originality.

Mariam Rahmani is a writer and translator. Her fiction, essays and translations have appeared in Granta, Gulf Coast, n+1 and elsewhere. Her first translation was named a Best Book of 2022 by The New Yorker. She teaches at Bennington College.