Loved One

'THE FUNNIEST BOOK YOU'LL EVER READ ABOUT GRIEF' MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD

'PERFECTLY CAPTURES THE MESSINESS, HEARTACHE AND BEAUTY OF GRIEF' RED MAGAZINE

‘For years I'd known exactly who I was to Gabe. It was a long story but I could tell it confidently, like a bartender sharing a recipe for her signature cocktail. Now things were so jumbled, I didn't know where to begin…’

When Julia’s first-love-turned-close-friend Gabe, a successful indie musician, dies unexpectedly aged 29, Julia is launched into an intercontinental quest to recover the possessions he left with friends and acquaintances across the world.

The search for these items leads Julia to Elizabeth, the last woman Gabe loved, in an interaction that leaves Julia with more questions than answers. Both women, it turns out, have something to hide, and soon find themselves engaged in a complex dance of withholding and revelation.

Together, the two must reconcile their conflicting memories of Gabe and who he was to each of them…and who they now are to each other.

From the Emmy Award-winning writer behind Hacks and Parks and Recreation, Loved One is a wise, witty and profoundly moving coming-of-age story with a powerful love at its heart, set to become an instant classic.

© 2025 Fourth Estate (Audiobook): 9780008617875

Release date

Audiobook: August 14, 2025