Recent release! As a once-bustling mall prepares to shut its doors for the final time, the residents of an upstate New York town must reckon with a shocking act of violence that forces them to re-evaluate who they are and what they want
Tina, a 40ish, Chinese-American hairstylist at the mall’s salon dreams of being a visual artist. Her young, friendless son Jackson secretly studies to become a magician. Ro, an elderly widow, comes to the mall as a respite from loneliness. Beautiful high school senior Maria nurses Hollywood aspirations while working in the mall food court. And Kevin, part of a mixed-race couple facing a marital crisis, manages the mall’s lone bookstore while his wife, Gwen, a successful poet and academic, can’t escape dreams of her children falling from the loft of their tiny house while they sleep.
With shops slowly going out of business, a sense of dread creeps into this once vibrant community. As residents grapple with how their lives will change once they lose their jobs, a tragedy at the mall brings the town to crisis. Some wonder whether this is the time to finally pursue postponed dreams, and for others, this sudden, violent act pushes them to strengthen their connections to the people who truly matter in their lives. Exploring how our identities and aspirations are inextricably bound to the places we call home, You Are Here is a stunning, keenly perceptive, and deeply humane portrait of a community in transition, and illustrates the conflicts and connections that can arise in the most ordinary of settings.
This is a used copy in good condition with some minor wear to the dust jacket.
By Karin Lin-Greenberg. Hardcover. 304 pages. Counterpoint, 2023.