A Way of Staying Close
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Pub Date Feb 3 2027 | Archive Date Feb 15 2027
Mamoon Chowdry | Briar Lane Press
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Description
By the time Ariana Malik understood what was happening to her family, three of them were already gone. This is the first time she has told anyone the story.
It is 2032. On a quiet street in Westwood, Massachusetts, Kaz Malik takes the 5:43 train home to a kitchen that smells like turmeric and Friday evening. His wife Aamina has been cooking since four. His older daughter rehearses through the ceiling. His younger daughter, Ariana, pretends to do her homework at the table.
After dinner, Kaz takes Ariana up the hill behind the house and teaches her the names of Jupiter's moons. He tells her that to know the name of a thing is a way of staying close to it, the kind of knowing that lives in you and cannot be reached.
On the counter, under a grocery circular, an envelope from a federal agency sits unopened. Kaz fills out the forms. Saves the confirmation numbers. Does everything correctly. It is not enough.
Told by Ariana decades later, *A Way of Staying Close* is the story of one family's slow undoing by the ordinary machinery of fear - a registration form with no honest answer, a neighbor who stops waving, an invitation that one year does not arrive. It is a novel about what a country takes from the people it decides not to recognize, and about what remains when everything that can be held is gone.
For readers of Mohsin Hamid's *Exit West*, Jhumpa Lahiri's *The Lowland*, and Damon Galgut's *The Promise*.
A Note From the Publisher
Please note the structure: every chapter opens and closes with a short soliloquy addressed to "you." The identity of "you" is revealed in the final chapter and reframes everything before it. We kindly ask reviewers not to spoil this turn.
Content note for reviewers: the novel includes racism and Islamophobia, state detention, the disappearance of a young woman, bereavement, and a late scene of mob violence.
Honest reviews are welcome, positive or critical. The author is a first-time novelist and genuinely grateful for every reader. Reviews are welcome on Goodreads now; Amazon reviews are requested on publication day, February 3, 2027.
A free reading group guide is available at briarlanepress.com, and the author is available for book club video calls.
Advance Praise
"A beautifully rendered, deeply humane family saga . . . depicted with great warmth in beautiful prose." - Kirkus Reviews
"Chowdry's characters anchor this fervid narrative with sincerity and vulnerability. Their emotional complexity makes its larger conflicts feel deeply personal." - The BookLife Prize, overall score 9.25/10
"Tragic, beautifully written, and horrifying. The timeliness of this novel under the current political administration is terrifyingly accurate." - Nancy Graben, librarian (NetGalley)
"This book had me staying up late in tears. The mundanity of their everyday contrasts with how they are treated." - Ronnica Fatt, author (NetGalley)
"It even made me wish my dad were still here so I could hear his voice again. A beautiful and emotional read." - Debbie T. (NetGalley)
"Beautiful and broken. The people. Their stories. Our world. This book is necessary. This story is real." - Clare Grové (Goodreads)
Marketing Plan
Debut literary fiction publishing February 3, 2027 from Briar Lane Press.
Early recognition: Kirkus Reviews ("a beautifully rendered, deeply humane family saga"), a 9.25/10 overall score from The BookLife Prize, and strong early NetGalley and Goodreads response.
Pre-launch campaign: ARC distribution via NetGalley; targeted outreach to 100+ Bookstagram, BookTok and Goodreads reviewers; local Massachusetts bookstore events; podcast appearances (pitching December 2026); personal essay submissions to LitHub and Electric Literature; and a multi-post LinkedIn campaign to the author's established professional audience.
Reader and group support: a free reading group guide and author book-club video calls (details at briarlanepress.com), plus a dedicated book page, excerpt, reviews and press kit.
Availability: Amazon Kindle pre-order live now. IngramSpark distribution enabled (55% discount, returns accepted) for bookstore and library ordering.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9798997433413 |
| PRICE | $9.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 372 |
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Average rating from 9 members
Featured Reviews
Ronnica F, Reviewer
This book had me staying up late in tears. The truth of this American family slowly is revealed, as they are treated as more and more “other” for their family background. The mundanity of their everyday contrasts with how they are treated, and will have the empathetic question the role they may play in these dynamics in their own communities.
Debbie T, Reviewer
Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. It truly took me on an emotional journey, and there were moments when it was hard to put down.
This story touched my heart in so many ways. It even made me wish my dad were still here so I could hear his voice again. ❤️
What a beautiful and emotional read. Thank you so much for sharing this story—I truly enjoyed it!
Clare G, Educator
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC and now for my review.
It has taken me 13 days since completing the reading of the novel to even begin to think what to say about this story.
Beautiful and broken. The people. Their stories. Our world. The narrator.
The narrative voice for me was on point for a coming-of-age girl from a respectful, nuclear, suburban family. It was repetitive yet this is on point, as children are repetitive. And the narrator, Ariana, is aiming to immortalise the memory of her lost family members so repetition is her tool to that end.
To have the novel set in a near future Massachusetts is unnecessary. This novel focusses on current prejudices and current ICE internments. I would have liked context to the anniversary spoken of. Being in Massachusetts, I thought immediately of the Boston Marathon terror attack.
A misattribution of a quote to Juliet instead of Romeo when Ariana’s sister, Anaiya, is introduced stood out for me as I know the past so well, having taught it for over a quarter of a century. “But soft, weekday light beyond tinder window breaks? It is the East and Juliet is the Sun.”
Perhaps change it to “Deny thy father and refuse thy name.”
And the metaphor of the Asparagus is taking the lessons parents embed in children and creating a live, visual representation of them. Nurturing. Patience. Hope.
This book is necessary. This story is real.
Nancy G, Librarian
I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
My heart literally ached at the end of this novel. It's tragic, beautifully written, and horrifying. The timeliness of this novel under the current political administration is terrifyingly accurate.
Readers who liked this book also liked:
Jordan Sawyer; Will Shindler; Susan Elia MacNeal; Hannah Morrissey; Keaton McGruder; Ashleigh Mounser; Jenny Hollander; Samantha Jayne Allen; Clare Bird; T. Jefferson Parker; Rebecca Sharpe; Melissa Larsen
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