Wanting: A Novel

Wanting: A Novel

A Best Literary Novel of 2025 from ELLE A searing debut novel of envy, longing, and regret across three lives and two countries that asks how far we’ll go for a friendship, a romance, a dream. 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. "Polished... observations that pierce with their elegance... affecting.... Ferrante-like ... satisfying."— New York Times Book Review “A compelling, poignant portrait of want.” —ELLE “A really refreshing and genuine take on what life in modern China looks like.”— The Chicago Sun-Times , A Best Book of 2025 "A gripping exploration of friendship, envy, desire, wealth, ambition, and contemporary Beijing, Wanting is both juicy and substantial." — LITHUB, Best Book of Summer "A powerful ode to friendship."— Alta Journal "Through keen observations about friendship and (friendly) rivalry, Jia explores how friends ebb and flow through each other’s lives despite mismatched wealth and desire."— Debutiful, Best Book of July "Claire Jia’s storytelling talent shines…. Full of layers of envy and longing, Wanting is an exploration of the road not traveled."— Geek Girl Authority, Best Book of July "Dives deep into the layers of envy, regret, and longing that pierce through even the strongest of friendships."— Harper's Bazaar , A Best Book of Summer "Wanting vividly traces the arc of adolescent friendship and love into adult hunger and hope. Whether for a wealthy immigrant YouTuber or the lonely strivers of the world she leaves behind, Claire Jia’s attention to her characters is at once compassionate and unflinching. This is a dazzling portrait of both modern China and the unrelenting ambitions of the human heart." — Belinda Huijuan Tang, author of A Map for the Missing "Written with emotional precision and tremendous wisdom, Wanting depicts the subtle and often inexplicable ways that friendship and romantic love evolve over time. Compassionate, perceptive and totally absorbing—I loved this novel." — Hanna Halperin, author of I Could Live Here Forever "Claire Jia’s novel brings us right into the fray of the complicated, human dramas of Beijing’s urbane elite. She delightfully illuminates both the quotidian and surreal details of our multicultural, interconnected worlds and of the unexpected connections between the U.S. and China, between old friends and old grievances. Her novel is a thoughtful and thought-provoking exploration."— Emily Feng, author of Let Only Red Flowers Bloom 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.