Astronaut! is a compulsive and thrilling story of life in a dictatorship.--Alice Winn, author of In Memoriam

I loved it. Oana has woven political satire, allegory, suspense, humour and fully realised characters into something utterly gripping. It's sharp, original and completely absorbing.--Georgina Godwin

Part thriller, part fable, this is fascinating, funny and very moving--highly recommended.--Laura Wilson, Guardian

Astronaut! is a brilliant and uniquely energizing read. Oana Aristide's skill as a storyteller glimmers in every deftly navigated twist and turn, and introduces us to remarkable characters in the grip of a tired totalitarianism they may (they hope) finally be able to put to rest. You will love this book!--Jennifer Croft, author of The Extinction of Irena Rey

Child-hero Lia's naive optimism and admiration of beauty amount to massive deeds of bravery that had me on the edge of my seat. An important book in times when it is easy to forget rebellions are made of small acts and actors, and anything is possible.--Kenan Orhan, author of The Renovation

Readers won't be able to put this book down. A wry detective story and a searing political commentary, this gripping novel shows us the way people in authoritarian countries struggle to find the truth, or hide from it. It couldn't be timelier.--Rajesh Parameswaran, author of I Am an Executioner

A brilliant, funny, moving novel. Aristide recreates this time so vividly, revealing the cruel deadening effects of dictatorship on ordinary people. One of the best novels I've read this year.--Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre

Part murder mystery, part fable, part unflinching account of life behind the Iron Curtain, Astronaut! is a tender, brilliant, and harrowing novel. If Solzhenitsyn and Hans Christian Andersen had literary offspring, it might be Oana Aristide.--Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, author of American Estrangement

With darkly bone-dry wit, Aristide conveys the simultaneous terror and absurdity that shadows Lia and Constantin as their stories converge. . . . The memorable Astronaut! is quite unlike anything else so far this year.--Brian Cliff and Elizabeth Mannion, Irish Times

[A] splendid novel. . . . A stirring ode to the goodness that persists despite humanity's cruelty.-- "Publishers Weekly"

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Pub date: 2026-07-14

Length: 272 pages