Waiting on a Friend: A Novel

New York City, East Village, 1984. A young woman with the power to see the ghosts of her friends is haunted by the one who refuses to return—a dazzling, big-hearted debut of friendship and community during a time of devastation and defiance.

Oprah Daily’s #1 Pick for Summer Reading

“Waiting on a Friend is Natalie Adler’s first novel but, already, I’d argue she can do what greats like Ann Patchett, Patrick Ryan and Celeste Ng do. . . . A terrific read and an exciting promise of more to come.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“I slowed my pace finishing Waiting on a Friend, because I didn’t want the novel to end. . . . [A] rich and intimate narrative.”—The Boston Globe

“A wildly inventive and moving novel . . . an astonishingly brilliant debut.”—Patrick Ryan, author of Buckeye

“A beautiful study of friendship, of how loss unmoors us, and how if we keep turning towards love, anything is possible.”—Ann Napolitano, author of Hello Beautiful

“Fresh and refreshing, both heartbreaking and uplifting. Natalie Adler has given us a gem.”—Rabih Alameddine, winner of the National Book Award

“[A] powerhouse debut . . . This dazzles like a mirror ball.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Spellbinding.”—Library Journal (starred review)

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: Oprah Daily, Debutiful, Lit Hub, Publishers Lunch

Renata is a young dyke-about-town who can see ghosts, something she's doing more and more of lately as too many of her friends are dying of a new, terrifying disease. When Renata's best friend Mark dies of complications from AIDS, Renata is devastated by the loss of the person she loved most in the world. And to her disappointment and increasing despair, Mark seems unwilling or unable to return for the proper goodbye they both were denied.

While Renata waits anxiously for Mark, she must stay vigilant: a mysterious, police-like force has begun ridding their East Village neighborhood of anything abnormal or inexplicable. What first seems like a scam reveals itself to be far more sinister, targeting the soul of Renata's community. 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. But haunting her every step is Mark, the one ghost who stubbornly refuses to reappear.

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 humor, 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.