Passengers by Alexander Maksik

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

Oprah Daily Best Books of Fall 2026

"This is the stuff we live for--a spinning dream of a book, pure heart-in-your-throat magic. I can't say this enough: read it, today, now."--Paul Yoon, author of Etna

"A beautiful, unsettling novel about the depths of love, the burden of nostalgia and the maddening impossibility of translating feeling into language."--Imbolo Mbue, author of Behold the Dreamers

"A novel of surpassing beauty and among the most moving portraits of parenthood I've ever read. It also happens to be exceptionally funny, propulsive and wise--an example of the alchemy that occurs when a writer finds the work he was born to pursue. Passengers is Alexander Maksik's masterpiece."--Anthony Marra, author of Mercury Pictures Presents

A taut, emotionally gripping, and surprisingly funny novel about a father and daughter stranded in an airport at the end of the world. 

Ivan is a solitary man in his seventies, set in his ways and haunted by the failures of his past. His smart and cynical daughter, Nina, is in the twilight of her twenties and has long kept a distance from her sentimental father. But when Ivan proposes a trip to Europe in hopes that it will bring them closer together, Nina reluctantly agrees. They meet at LAX, where their departure is delayed. And delayed again. And again. As the hours drag on, their sharp, caustic and wide-ranging conversation reveals a lifetime of misunderstandings, unhealed wounds, and stubborn love.

Soon more flights are canceled, security tightens, airport staff grow evasive, and it becomes clear to Ivan and Nina that something is wrong. They begin to suspect that they're being held prisoner--sequestered from the world without explanation. At last, the surreal starts to overtake the mundane, and their need to escape--and to protect each other--turns increasingly urgent.

What begins as a piercing portrait of a father and daughter becomes a novel of eerie suspense, as Nina and Ivan navigate not only their fractured bond but also a world teetering on the brink of collapse. A story of loving across gaps--between parent and child, between things said and unsaid--and about what happens when the outside world finally mirrors the chaos within, Passengers is Maksik's most timely and accomplished novel yet.