The story begins on a not-quite utopian island commune where the narrator and her father are the two newest and least liked members. After immersing us in life on the island, our young heroine takes us back to her previous life in Boston, where she and her father belonged to a wide Ethiopian network, but kept to themselves, as her father preferred. Until the intoxicating arrival of Ayale the parking lot attendant. The unofficial king of Boston’s Ethiopian community, Ayale is a born hustler, and his charm soon holds our narrator in thrall. But by the time the scope of all Ayale’s projects reveals itself, our narrator has unwittingly become complicit in something bigger and darker than she ever imagined.

A haunting story of fatherhood, national identity, and what it means to be an immigrant in America today, The Parking Lot Attendant explores how who we love, the choices we make, and the places we’re from combine to make us who we are.