First published 2022
Sneha considers herself lucky. Fresh out of college, she has secured an entry-level corporate position in Milwaukee while economic recession grips America. The demanding job becomes her ticket to financial freedom. She covers restaurant bills for her new friend Tig, helps her college friend Thom get hired at the same company, and sends regular payments to her parents in India. Sneha begins exploring relationships with women and develops intense feelings for Marina, an alluring dancer who remains mysteriously distant. Success proves fragile. Hidden truths surface among her circle of friends. Work situations deteriorate rapidly. The threat of eviction becomes real. Sneha finds herself unable to achieve genuine intimacy with anyone, despite growing closer to her friends and pursuing a passionate but chaotic romance with Marina. When their problems reach a breaking point, Tig proposes a drastic plan she believes will rescue them all. The story explores the precarious nature of young adult life, where professional achievement and personal connections exist in constant tension with economic instability and emotional vulnerability.
Genres: fiction, contemporary, 21st-century, lgbt, contemporary-romance, new-adult
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, friends-to-lovers
Setting: Milwaukee
Period: Economic Recession
312 pages · Hardcover · Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Content warnings: anxiety, depression, mental-illness