Wanting -- Claire Jia, Paperback

Ye Lian is thriving in Beijing. She has a well-paid job, a nice boyfriend, and plans to marry and move into a luxury high-rise apartment. She's wanting for nothing-until her childhood best friend, Luo Wenyu, comes whirling back into her life after a decade in California with seemingly everything-a successful career as an influencer, a millionaire American fiancé, and a bespoke mansion in the Beijing suburbs-throwing Lian's own reliable choices into high relief.

As the two women rekindle their friendship, Wenyu reveals a shocking secret about a past love that pushes Lian to question her own relationship. A few neighborhoods away, aging architect Song Chen is forced to confront his own past and the dissolution of his marriage as he's tasked with building Wenyu's dream home. And when the dark side of Wenyu's enviable life emerges and threatens everything Lian and Wenyu have built for themselves, they must make a choice between the stable known and the frightening unknown that may have devastating and unexpected consequences.

In girlhood memories and karaoke afternoons in Xidan Square, in aspirational YouTube channels and billboard ads, in private hotel rendezvous and secret WeChat messages, Claire Jia's debut novel is a love letter to friendship; a powder keg of impossible, interwoven desires; a siren song that explores why, even as it destroys us, we always want more.


Author: Claire Jia
Publisher: Tin House
Published: 07/01/2025
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.88lbs
Size: 7.21h x 5.72w x 1.03d
ISBN: 9781963108279

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 06/01/2025
BookPage 07/01/2025
Booklist 07/01/2025 pg. 26

About the Author
Claire Jia is a writer from Illinois. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Modern Love column, The Rumpus, Reductress, and more. She writes for television and video games, including the 2024 Peabody Award-winning We Are OFK. She lives in Los Angeles with her friends.