{"product_id":"mendell-station-9781639736188","title":"Mendell Station","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNamed a Best Book of July 2025 by \u003ci\u003eThe Lost Angeles Times \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eAlta Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A surprising and evocative debut.\" -Grace D. Li, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of PORTRAIT OF A THIEF\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA tender debut that follows a woman who, after her best friend's death, loses her faith and quits her job to join the postal service, quickly becoming an 'essential worker' as the city shuts down.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e It's January 2020, and Miriam is already getting a sense that the world might be ending. First, she learns that her best friend, Esther, has died. Then her faith in God-in everything, really-follows suit. Her job teaching Scripture at a private Christian school suddenly seems untenable, so she quits. Thankfully, the postal service is hiring. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e While Miriam finds comfort in her route, the mail truck can hardly outpace the memory of her lost friend and eroded faith. She finds herself composing letters to Esther that she will never deliver, reflecting on their shared childhoods and deep understanding of each other's difficult families. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eMendell Station\u003c\/i\u003e depicts one woman's deliverance through the peculiar rhythms of work, and the beauty found in small details and gestures, those quotidian labors of love.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJ.B. Hwang\u003c\/b\u003e received her MFA in Fiction from the University of Florida, and her short fiction and translation can be found in \u003ci\u003eThe Temz Review, The Denver Quarterly, Oxford Magazine, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003edecember magazine\u003c\/i\u003e. She lived in San Francisco for eight years and worked as a mail carrier during the pandemic. She currently lives in Philadelphia.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51475494437138,"sku":"9781639736188","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_40bf4301-c71d-47f3-bf8b-66bd34d230c5.jpg?v=1752596155","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/mendell-station-9781639736188","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}