Written with great humour and self-awareness, Koh-i-Noor is a satirical coming-of-age tale about a well-intentioned youth determined to change the world.

It’s 2011 on Nova Scotia’s South Shore, and Sean Lohan is at a crossroads. The son of Colorado Buddhists, Sean wonders if he should accept his parents’ offer to join their natural cosmetics company or venture out on his own. When an art history professor opens Sean’s eyes to the contradictions of capitalism, he realizes he can’t avoid or transcend his own personal dilemmas and instead chooses to face them head-on.

Sean’s ultimate decision to found a social enterprise leads him to China. At the same time, his close friend Jerry becomes entangled in a Google-like tech enterprise in California, and his girlfriend Samantha pursues her own high-minded interventions in Cuba—each path leading to increasingly risky and complex outcomes. 

In the roving literary style of Thomas Pynchon and Mathias Énard, this enthralling debut offers readers a fast-paced adventure through the diverging nuances of economics, spirituality, and extraction. In a period of increasing uncertainty, Koh-i-Noor is a timely doomscroll through four decades of globalization, generational change, and the search for one’s own values.

US Price $21.00 USD

Koh-i-Noor is a trans-generational story of leaving home with the intention to do good in the world. What this good is—and how one has arrived at it—is the question driving each of the six main characters.

The writing is expansive, genre-bending, humorous, ironic, stylistic, and heartfelt.

The book is set in various places, including Halifax, Beijing, California, and Cuba, and addresses Canadian and American themes and the cultural references both countries share.

The author grew up in an ex-pat American Buddhist community in Atlantic Canada. While there is some parody and criticism of the community, it is fair and loving and not a cartoonish telling.

For readers of literary fiction, coming of age tales, and fans of satire.

Will appeal to people interested in or critical of the “new age” spirituality, the wellness industry, late-stage capitalism and commerce, NGOs, and travel.