Abroad

A Novel of Cross-Cultural Encounters

Longlisted for the BookLife Fiction Prize ** "Powerful and moving..." --The BookLife Prize ** "Sweet and supremely readable, ABROAD is a celebration of travel and all ways it can lead us to rediscover ourselves and relearn the true meaning of love." --Imbolo Mbue, Author of How Beautiful We Were

This novel is “an ambitious, globe-crossing narrative of interconnected lives and loves. . . ." (Booklife) and "a refreshing take..." (The BookLife Prize)

ABROAD follows young adults Skip, Maddie, and Rex as they travel overseas and navigate romantic loves and friendships during the cultural upheaval and sexual revolution of the 1960s and 70s.

Told through interconnected stories, the novel examines how world travel upends the preconceptions of youth and home, while seeking to answer two questions: Can we ever truly understand someone from a different culture, and can we ever truly understand ourselves if we don’t try?

“A rich, often finely detailed mosaic of lives and longings, with multiple point-of-view characters and a recurring message of understanding. . . . Bryan dramatizes the ways that cultural capital can help build lifelong connections that teach us how we deal with ourselves and those outside our experience.” –Booklife