Description
Nora Nazerene Abu Bakar, Vice President and Publisher at Penguin Southeast Asia, praises the work as "a novel of extraordinary literary ambition and emotional depth."
AARP's "Fall 2026 Books Preview: 41 of the Season's Top Reads"
ELLE India Magazine's "Must-Read Books of 2026"
"Book of the Month" Selection by the Untitled Book Club (Malaysia)
"What a gorgeous gorgeous book... a beautiful reflection on life and love" -NetGalley Reviewer
"If you're looking for a story that feels like a fever dream of nostalgia and heartbreak, you really have to pick up Ahn Love by Frances Park"-Goodreads Reviewer
A dreamy, poignant romp, Ahn Love opens with Margaret visiting her widowed father, Sam Ahn, on his ninetieth birthday. His crippling loneliness-anchored in the belief that if his orchids ever bloom, his late wife will return-transports Margaret back to the summer of 1969 and the Ahns' seven-day cruise across the Pacific.
On that fateful voyage, a teenage Margaret-nicknamed Monkey-witnessed the unraveling of her family: her beloved but servile Uncle Bong's betrayal, her mother's fateful encounter with a Brazilian playboy, and the first stirrings of her own awakening. Amid the glittering decks and restless seas, Margaret experiences the dizzying highs and crushing lows of youth-magic, tragic, exotic, and erotic-all new to her, including a brief but intoxicating romance with the dashing Adam Kang, a young Korean Brit.
As memory and present entwine, Ahn Lovebecomes a tender meditation on desire, loss, and the fragile beauty of time-where the seeds of love and heartbreak are sown in equal measure.