Loved One

Named a Best Book of 2025 by NPR and Newsweek

“[A] funny, heartwrenching novel.” —People

“A genuine pleasure to read.” —Vogue

“Full of wildly astute, delectably thorny questions about love and loss and possession.” —Maggie Shipstead, New York Times bestselling author of Great Circle

A tender story “about who we love and who we are” (Town & Country), from an Emmy Award–winning writer of Hacks, Parks and Recreation, and The Good Place

After falling in love one summer in Barcelona, Gabe and Julia went their separate ways—she to college, and he to pursue his dream of becoming a singer-songwriter. Years later, they reconnected in LA, forming a close friendship each of them relied on throughout their messy twenties.

But on the cusp of Julia’s thirtieth birthday, Gabe, now a semi-famous indie musician, suffers a tragic accident and is found dead in his hotel room. Disoriented and in shock, Julia ruminates on their ambiguous relationship history as she embarks on an international journey. Ostensibly, she’s going to London to meet Gabe’s last love, Elizabeth, in order to bring some of his belongings home to his mother. But Julia’s true purpose—which she obscures even from herself—is to find out, once and for all, who she and Gabe were to each other. Does she really want to know the answer?