Today, we’re pleased to announce the cover of Elizabeth Gonzalez James’s forthcoming debut novel Mona At Sea. 

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Elizabeth Gonzalez James had this to say about her forthcoming novel:

“I’m unemployed, I’ve never had a boyfriend, I live with my parents in the most boring town on the planet, and I hate myself.”

Nine months after college graduation, and mired in a long period of unemployment set against the Great Recession, these are the thoughts that torment Mona Mireles. A Millennial perfectionist, Mona is used to being the best at everything. But when the Wall Street job she had waiting for her after graduation dissolves and she has to move back in with her parents in Tucson to reassemble the pieces of her life, she finds herself utterly adrift. Mona At Sea is a dark comedy that follows Mona as she tries to figure out what she finds meaningful in life. With cutting wit and a bottomless pit of resentment, Mona is the kind of girl who says exactly the right thing at exactly the wrong time, though she saves her cruelest jabs for herself. Mona is also channelling a long-buried love of painting into a portrait of her namesake, Mona Lisa, that she is carving into her thigh.

When her parents’ marriage falters and Mona’s anger finally alienates everyone around her, she must grow up quickly or risk losing everyone she cares for. And when she finally figures out what she wants out of life, will she be brave enough to go after it?

Mona At Sea will be published by the Santa Fe Writers Project. It’s due out next year and is available for preorder now.

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