I Am Alex Locus by Joseph P. Garland

Twenty-three-year-old Alex Locus stumbles into the world of her late mother, Emily. With each revelation, she learns things she could not have imagined, and struggles to find the truth about her family. Emily had a long-term date with a friend on Friday afternoons. On one of those Fridays, August 8, 2008, though, she suffered a stroke that she did not survive. Nine years later, Alex is passing time at a New York bookshop, enjoying an author read from her collection of stories. Her life changes forever when learns of the existence of the "Emily Locus Award." She introduces herself: "I am Alex Locus." This begins a quest by Alex and her best friend Kate to learn the truth about her mother, starting with their reading the unpublished stories that for years sat in the attic of Alex's one-time suburban home. A quest that will reveal secrets, good and bad, about the family members she knew and some she only came to meet in her search.

Adult • Diversity Representation/LGBTQ+ • Contemporary Fiction • Literary Fiction

Content Warning: The book contains references to rape.