Waiting on a Friend: The dazzling debut of ghosts and queer resistance set in 1980s New York
May 2026 · Hachette UK
Ebook
288
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About this ebook
'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.
'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' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'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 dyin...
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About the author
Natalie Adler is an editor at Lux magazine. She was a 2022-23 Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction. She has an MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College and a PhD in comparative literature from Brown University. She is from New Jersey and lives in New York City.
Natalie Adler is an editor at Lux magazine. She was a 2022-23 Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction. She has an MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College and a PhD in comparative literature from Brown University. She is from New Jersey and lives in New York City.
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