This first novel is full of surprises, and I cannot wait to see what Jayatissa does with her next book. The premise is fascinating: Sri Lankan orphan Paloma is adopted by white American parents at 12, but this is 18 years later and her life is spinning out of control, for reasons that only become apparent as the book moves on. Her biggest problem as the novel opens is that she finds her roommate Arun, an undocumented man from India whom she barely knows, dead at their kitchen table and minutes later, vanished. The one challenge with this as a plot point is that the police are not particularly troubled by her report of his death and no one has any reason to suspect her of the murder of a man who may or may not exist. But there are many other mysteries in Paloma’s life to preoccupy her and the reader. She handles white racism, immigration, international adoption, the gig economy, the sex trade, and other contemporary issues as matters of fact *and* plot devices, which makes this novel really fresh and unexpected. Definitely a page-turner.