All this could be different

“An extraordinary novel, spiny and delicate, scathingly funny and wildly moving.” —Lauren Groff, author of Matrix
 
“Sarah Thankam Mathews’ prose is undeniable.” —Raven Leilani, author of Luster
 
From a brilliant new voice comes an electrifying novel of a young immigrant building a life for herself—a warm, dazzling, and profound saga of queer love, friendship, work, and precarity in twenty-first century America

Graduating into the long maw of an American recession, Sneha is one of the fortunate ones. She’s moved to Milwaukee for an entry-level corporate job that, grueling as it may be, is the key that unlocks every door: she can pick up the tab at dinner with her new friend Tig, get her college buddy Thom hired alongside her, and send * to her parents back in India. She begins dating women—soon developing a burning crush on Marina, a beguiling and beautiful dancer who always seems just out of reach.
 
But before long, trouble arrives. Painful secrets rear their heads; jobs go off the rails; evictions loom. Sneha struggles to be truly close and open with anybody, even as her friendships deepen, even as she throws herself headlong into a dizzying romance with Marina. It’s then that Tig begins to draw up a radical solution to their problems, hoping to save them all.
 
A beautiful and capacious novel rendered in singular, unforgettable  prose, All This Could Be Different is a wise, tender, and riveting group portrait of young people forging love and community amidst struggle, and a moving story of one immigrant’s journey to make her home in the world. “[All This Could Be Different is] a bildungsroman, a gorgeous queer love story, and a musing on labor and immigration. But you’ll fall most in love with its wickedly sharp narrator, who’s funny, passionate, and complicated.” —The Cut

“This bold and wide-ranging novel sets its sights on what it really means to be 'okay' . . . [asking] questions that have consumed innumerable 20-somethings . . . Mathews expertly captures and elevates the position of being a young queer person in the post-recession U.S. with many more questions than answers.” —Emma Spector, Vogue

“[What] initially blew me away was the clarity of Mathews’ writing and the accuracy with which she describes experiences I’d previously taken for granted. Her writing is funny, incisive . . . This book gave me a lot to ponder, but ultimately left me hopeful.” —David Vogel, Buzzfeed

“All This Could Be Different is easily a contender for Book of the Year.” —Observer

“[A] dazzling debut . . . There is so much here to chew on: economic and food insecurity, tenants’ rights, coming into one’s own, queer romance, immigration, and the vitality of friendship. All This Could Be Different is an epic and beautiful first novel from a writer to watch.” —them.

“[One of] our most anticipated releases of the season . . . [written] with tenderness and exhilaration.” —Elle

“Mathews achieves what so often seems to be impossible: a deeply felt 'novel of ideas' . . . [She] somehow tackles the big abstractions—capitalism, gender, sexuality, Western individualism, etc.—while at the same time imbuing her characters with such real, flawed humanity that they seem ready to walk right off the page. Rarely is dialogue rendered so accurately . . . Mathews can be deeply moving at the same time that she is funny; she dips into slang in a way that feels lyrical and rhythmic . . . beautifully written, lusciously felt, and marvelously envisioned. Resplendent with intelligence, wit, and feeling.” —Kirkus (starred review)

“Mathews’s poignant and illuminating debut centers on an aloof 22-year-old Indian immigrant whose first job out of college brings her to the Midwest . . . Mathews [charts] the wonders of community-building, delving into the strenuous work that goes into sustaining meaningful friendships as well as the heartbreak that ensues when connections are fractured by dishonesty. [A] thoughtful exploration of how the legacies of trauma make an impact.” —Publishers Weekly

“All This Could Be Different is an extraordinary novel, spiny and delicate, scathingly funny and wildly moving. Sarah Thankam Mathews is a brilliant writer, one whose every ringing sentence holds both bite and heart.” —Lauren Groff, author of Matrix

“Some books are merely luminous—this one is iridescent: with joy and pain, isolation and communion, solemnity and irreverent humor. Even the title has twin meanings. ‘All this could be different’ is a sorrowing observation of our contemporary precarity, but ‘All this could be different’ is equally—and ultimately—a declaration, an electrifying act of resistance.” —Susan Choi, author of Trust Exercise

“Battle cry and love song both, All This Could Be Different is an ode—tender, sexy, and smart—to coming of age in turbulent times. As Sneha navigates the hilarious and deadly serious work of being a good friend, lover, daughter, immigrant, adult, queer woman, and worker under late stage capitalism, what emerges is a portrait of a woman determined to live her life to its brim--no matter what. Sarah Thankam Mathews writes like a blaze, and this book will remind you what it is to be young and powerfully alive.” —C Pam Zhang, author of How Much of These Hills is Gold

“Sarah Thankam Mathews’ prose is undeniable and hyper attuned to the terrible privacy of the mind. In All This Could Be Different, she captures the sneaky, unsayable parts of longing and writes sharply about the long shadow of family.” —Raven Leilani, author of Luster

“Everything about this novel is perfect. It’s about friendship and work, two things which so rarely get treated with such nuance and care in fiction. Sneha’s narrative voice is both snarky and warm. Every scene comes alive. If you’re looking for your next great queer Millennial read, this is it.” —BookRiot

“Sarah Thankam Mathews’s All This Could Be Different is a deeply honest and compelling testimony. It is breathtaking in its beauty and profound in its meaning. Mathews captures the complexities, contradictions, and dissonances of life with astounding aplomb and care. All This Could Be Different is quietly epic.” —Robert Jones, Jr., author of The Prophets

“Sharply observed and deeply empathetic, All This Could Be Different is a gorgeous story of dreaming and daring against the odds. I loved these flawed, funny friends and I rooted for them, and as I raced toward the end I felt an ache in my chest, missing them already.” —Dawnie Walton, author of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
 
“Sarah Thankam Mathews’ All This Could Be Different is an exquisite debut. Mathews’ is a completely original voice that is, by turns, fierce, witty, musical, poignant, and, yes, deeply sexy. Simultaneously a tender portrait of chosen family, a stunningly rendered queer romance, and a keen reflection on work in a monstrous economy, this novel also thrums with a persistent, private hope for another, better world. It is the kind of book one should read not only to be entertained or impressed, but also to feel less alone.” —Sanjena Sathian, author of Gold Diggers