Waiting on a Friend by Adler, Natalie
Waiting on a Friend by Adler, Natalie

Waiting on a Friend

New York City, East Village, 1984. A young woman with the power to see the ghosts of...
$33.60 USD
$33.60 USD
Please hurry! Only 891 left in stock
Author: Natalie Adler
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $33.60
Waiting on a Friend by Adler, Natalie

Waiting on a Friend

$33.60
Waiting on a Friend by Adler, Natalie

Waiting on a Friend

$33.60
Author: Natalie Adler
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Description
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.

"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 . . . Adler's intimate portrayal of the period is richly detailed, both in the grim atmosphere and the city's life-affirming downtown arts community. This dazzles like a mirror ball."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Spellbinding."--Library Journal (starred review)

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: 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.

Author: Natalie Adler
Publisher: Hogarth Press
Published: 05/26/2026
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.79lbs
Size: 8.36h x 5.92w x 1.19d
ISBN: 9780593734025


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 03/01/2026 pg. 97
Publishers Weekly 03/02/2026
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2026

About the Author
Natalie Adler has an MFA in Fiction from Brooklyn College and a PhD in Comparative Literature from Brown University. She was a Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction and is an editor at Lux magazine. She is from New Jersey and lives in New York City.
Shipping & Return

Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the "Complete Orders" link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.

Shipping

We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.

Review