Park Avenue

In this entertaining novel from Ahdieh (The Ruined), a rising New York City lawyer takes on a delicate and potentially reputation-making case involving a wealthy fellow Korean American family. The three adult Park children are suing their father, a lucrative client at Jia Song’s firm, to prevent him from divorcing their mother, who has terminal cancer, and marrying his young mistress, who is pregnant with his son. The Park family is intimidating enough, but Jia’s mission is further complicated by her own anxiety and perfectionism, born of being raised by extremely demanding shopkeeper parents. What’s more, the Park family’s young butler, Darius, is drop-dead gorgeous, empathic, and wise, and could present Jia with a major distraction, though she views him as a potential ally. As the characters jet-set between Manhattan, the Hamptons, the Cayman Islands, Paris, and Crete, Ahdieh spoofs rom-coms and chick lit while indulging in their high drama and steady stream of haute couture name-dropping. The novel also has depth, as Jia faces her fears and the Parks turn out to be surprisingly complex, especially the youngest son, Minsoo, who was rejected by their bully father for being gay. Fans of Succession will love this layered tale of a warring family. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Word One Literary. (June)