Mika in Real Life

Mika in Real Life is a contemporary character-driven novel about motherhood, adoption, shame, identity, and the dangerous comfort of pretending. Mika Suzuki is thirty-five, newly fired, broke, and living with her best friend when her biological daughter, Penny, suddenly calls after sixteen years apart.

Terrified that Penny will reject the messy truth of her life, Mika invents a shinier version of herself: successful art-gallery owner, world traveler, stable partner, perfect adult. But when Penny and her adoptive father Thomas come to Portland, the fantasy begins to strain under real love, old trauma, and the longing of three people trying to understand what family can become.

The story follows Mika as she confronts her past, her fractured relationship with her mother, the assault that shaped her, and the dreams she abandoned, until she learns that becoming a parent, an artist, and herself are all acts of courage.

• Listeners who enjoy emotional contemporary fiction about complicated families, adoption, and second chances.
• Readers drawn to mother-daughter stories, identity, grief, and healing from shame.
• Fans of character-driven novels with humor, romance, messy friendship, and a hopeful ending.

Emiko Jean is a New York Times bestselling author whose works include Tokyo Ever After, Empress of All Seasons, and We’ll Never Be Apart. Before becoming a writer, she worked as an entomologist, candle maker, florist, and teacher. She lives in Washington with her husband and children.