Aftertaste

Name: Aftertaste
Price: 42.95 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9781668061602

Daria Lavelle

$42.95

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Simon & Schuster
19 May 2026

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Classic horror & ghost stories; Fantasy; Fantasy

""A haunting evocation of pain and pleasure, and the power of food."" --Nigella Lawson What if you could have one last meal with someone you've loved, someone you've lost? Combining the magic of Under the Whispering Door with the high-stakes culinary world of Sweetbitter, Aftertaste is an epic love story, a dark comedy, and a synesthetic adventure through food and grief.

A food story to binge.

A ghost story to devour.

A love story to savor.

Konstantin Duhovny is a haunted man. His father died when he was ten, and ghosts have been hovering around him ever since. Kostya can't exactly see the ghosts, but he can taste their favorite foods. Flavors of meals he's never eaten will flood his mouth,

a sign that a spirit is present. Kostya has kept these aftertastes a secret for most of his life, but one night, he decides to act on what he's tasting. And everything changes.

Kostya discovers that he can reunite people with their departed loved ones--just for one last meal. Convinced that his life's purpose is to serve closure to grieving strangers, he sets out to learn all he can be entering a particularly fiery ring of Hell: the New York culinary scene. But as his kitchen skills catch up with his ambitions, he's too blind to see the catastrophe looming in the Afterlife. And the one person who knows Kostya must be stopped also happens to be falling in love with him.

Set in the bustling world of New York restaurants and teeming with mouthwatering food writing, Aftertaste is a whirlwind romance, a heart-wrenching look at love and loss, and a ghost story about all the ways we hunger--and how far we'll go to find satisfaction.

By: Daria Lavelle
Imprint: Simon & Schuster
Dimensions: Height: 213mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 259g
ISBN: 9781668061602
ISBN 10: 1668061600
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 19 May 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Daria Lavelle is an American fiction writer. Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and raised in the New York metro area, her work explores themes of identity and belonging through magic and the uncanny. Her short stories have appeared in The Deadlands, The Dread Machine, and elsewhere, and she holds degrees in writing from Princeton University and Sarah Lawrence College. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, children, and goldendoodle, all of whom love a great meal almost as much as she does. Learn more at DariaLavelle.com.