For fans of Ann Napolitano and Anne Tyler, a story of pushing past a cringey backstory and emerging a little bruised but stronger and wiser and ready for what comes next.

It’s the disco era, but there is no sparkle for twenty-two-year-old Lulu, who has squandered her gap-year savings keeping up with her better-funded classmates. She finds two lousy summer jobs and is just beginning to feel more solid when an old acquaintance arrives for a weekend and doesn’t leave—until she does, stealing a car and leaving her jobless boyfriend, Bart, sleeping on Lulu’s sofa.

Bart and Lulu form an awkward alliance, splitting expenses to save money. Bart finds a job and Lulu starts her senior year, and together they become part of the Loop, a vibrant neighborhood of students, immigrants, long-term residents, and the businesses that sustain them. When they discover squatters in the basement of their apartment building, the pair comes face to face with the cruel underbelly of urban America. As they ease into a friendlier relationship, however, they also begin to find their way to their separate—or perhaps joint—futures.

Set in Saint Louis in an era of social upheaval, Lulu in the Loop is a 3D look at friendship, community, and figuring out adulthood.

About The Author

Ellen Barker

Ellen Barker grew up in Kansas City during a period of demographic upheaval, and she returns there in her novels. She has a bachelor’s degree in urban studies from Washington University in Saint Louis, where she developed a passion for how cities work, and don’t. She began her career as an urban planner, then spent many years working for large consulting firms, first as a writer-editor and later managing large data systems. Her volunteer work involves years of pet-assisted therapy with children in “the system,” both foster care and prison. She is the author of East of Troost, which introduced readers to the neighborhood where The Breaks takes place, and Still Needs Work, which takes place in the same area. She now lives in Los Altos, California, with her husband and their German shepherd, Boris, who is the inspiration for the dog in this novel.