Most Anticipated Book of the Summer: New York Times Book Review, W Magazine, Oprah Daily, Conde Nast Traveler, Hollywood Reporter, the Boston Globe, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and The Millions
Best Book of 2025 So Far: Real Simple, Debutiful, Literary Hub
“[Loved One] is special . . . full of wildly astute, delectably thorny questions about love and loss and possession.” —Maggie Shipstead, New York Times bestselling author of Great Circle
From an Emmy Award–winning writer comes a funny, wise, heartbreaking story about a woman journeying into the unknown in the wake of sudden loss
When her first-love-turned-close-friend, Gabe, dies unexpectedly at twenty-nine, thirty-year-old Julia is launched into an intercontinental quest to recover his lost possessions. Her journey takes her from Los Angeles to London and into the murky realm of the past. It also sets Julia on a collision course with the last woman he loved, a guarded, self-possessed florist and restaurateur named Elizabeth, who insists on withholding Gabe’s beloved guitar—one of the departed indie rock musician’s dearest belongings—for reasons Julia can’t understand. Both women, it turns out, have something to hide, and soon find themselves engaged in a complex dance of withholding and revelation.
An emotional mystery spanning years, continents, and relationship statuses, Loved One introduces Aisha Muharrar as a novelist intimately attuned to the intricacies of love, memory, and ambiguous loss. What happens when we admit that the deepest feelings never die? How do we reconcile various—and sometimes contradictory—truths about those closest to us? An engrossing and profoundly moving coming-of-age story with a powerful love at its heart, Loved One is poised to become an instant classic.
BIO
Aisha Muharrar is an Emmy Award–winning writer and producer who has worked on shows like Hacks, Parks and Recreation, and The Good Place. Born in Connecticut and raised on Long Island, Muharrar lives in Los Angeles with her family. Loved One is her first novel.
REVIEWS
“A writer and producer on Parks and Recreation, The Good Place and Hacks, the Emmy winner [Aisha Muharrar] has experience handling high-concept plots and humor with an undertow of earnestness. That’s on display here, with a premise that sounds like it could be compelling TV too.” -- NPR
“Poignant and engrossing… subtle and elegant.” -- NPR/All Things Considered
“Loved One by Emmy-winning TV writer Aisha Muharrar poignantly examines loss while incorporating tons of humor and charm.” -- Real Simple
“This warm, heartfelt novel teems with compassion for its characters, and rather than wallowing in sadness, it celebrates the joy of connections, especially those cut short.” -- Oprah Daily
[H] Viking / August 12, 2025
1.3" H x 9.1" L x 5.9" W (1.1 lbs) 336 pages