Masquerade

In "Masquerade," a surreal queer coming-of-age mystery by Mike Fu, newly single Meadow Liu finds himself house-sitting for an artist friend in New York when he discovers a novel about a masked ball in 1930s Shanghai, sharing his name in Chinese. As he navigates a summer filled with eerie phenomena, including a haunted apartment and a riddle-speaking stranger, Meadow's reality begins to blur with the fantastical, especially after his friend Selma mysteriously disappears. This debut novel intricately explores identities and relationships across cultures while weaving a tale of friendship, longing, and the complexities of trust in a world where appearances can be deceiving.