This emotionally stirring and darkly comic debut novel is an unflinching look at loss, returning home, family, and the ties that bind—whether we like it or not, perfect for fans of This is Where I Leave You and Competitive Grieving.

When Cy Adler died, nobody saw it coming, least of all his daughter, Cammy. Almost thirty, slightly aimless, and living in a basement apartment in Astoria, Cammy is forced to slum it back to River Hill, her one-square-mile New Jersey hometown, to sit shiva. Cammy’s fraught relationship with her high-strung mother, Beth, never made coming home easy. Now, with her beloved father gone and pompous Rabbi Wiener buzzing around, she would rather be anywhere but crammed in her childhood bedroom, in a house filled with a smorgasbord of food brought over by consoling guests. So, for seven turbulent days, mourning Cammy has to make the most of a tragic situation. From getting stoned and hooking up with a former high school hero to taking a debauched trip to an Atlantic City strip club to discovering that the first boy she ever loved didn't grow up to be a full-fledged star, Cammy must reckon with her roots—with the place she fled for the glamour of New York, where she truly belongs. Or does she? Reconnecting with old friends and neighbors makes her wonder: Is she really any better off than those she left behind? While navigating the swirl of emotions that come with grief, she also uncovers hidden truths about her father, which lead her to doubt how well she knew the man whom she considered her inspiration and mentor. And does she even know herself?

Fueled by wry, frothy prose, CAMMY SITTING SHIVA is a deeply relatable fish-out-of-water story, grappling with what it feels like to be adrift and to find that a hard trip home may be what it takes to anchor you.