In Asylum, a debut novel by Monique Franz, four Black women bond over their outsider status in a foreign city and channel their newfound sisterhood into reuniting a Congolese refugee with her young daughter.

"Franz has a keen eye for human behavior, especially those stories we tell ourselves in order to avoid hard truths. I was hoping for a nuanced portrait of Black womanhood and I was not disappointed. In particular, I loved how the book gives the reader a sense of both the personal and the political. These friends bond over romantic struggles, business and ambition, but we also see firsthand the draining nature of living as a Black woman in Hong Kong and the world."


Kiele Raymond
Thompson Literary Agency, New York City