J.Y.H. Ng is a Toronto-based writer of short stories and novels. Andalusia is her debut novel.
Fiction
Andalusia
Toronto: Cormorant Books, 2027.
forthcoming Feb. 2027
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
Penny Deng, a young Cantonese Canadian woman, has rebuilt her life after a breakup with her first love, Mahdi Alhajeri, a Muslim Kuwaiti who once promised a future far from their families’ oppressive expectations, only to end things over a phone call. Penny now has a competitive job in interior design, a dedicated fiancé, Nathaniel, and a home away from her mother’s constant judgement. She yearns for stability with Nathaniel and plans to convert to Judaism for their future family despite his parents’ reservations. But when Penny becomes pregnant, she questions whether her choices are driven by love, pain, or fear.
Things unravel when Mahdi returns to Toronto on the eve of his wedding. As they relive their past, Penny questions what it means to love someone whose community will never welcome her, and whether it is nobler to live in defiance or acceptance of this reality.