Book cover of Must I Go

Book description

Richly expansive and deeply moving, an intimate novel of secret lives and painful histories from one of the finest storytellers we have

'This brilliant novel examines lives lived, losses accumulated, and the slipperiness of perception. Yiyun Li writes deeply, drolly, and with elegance about history, even as it's happening. She…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Must I Go as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

There are similarities between this novel and mine – the woman at its heart is an American named Lilia, she’s had adventures, and she is taking stock. But then the fascinating differences begin. She is 81, not 57; she’s had marriages and children; above all, the narrative about Lilia is only one layer of the story, as within the book is another book, the diary of a man she had an affair with when very young, and she annotates his revelations with her own. This resonant novel’s strata – like limestone folds, the sediment of a life brought back to…

From Alison's list on keeping it real about older women.

If you love Must I Go...

Ad

Book cover of Resonant Blue and Other Stories

Resonant Blue and Other Stories by Mary Vensel White,

The first collection of award-winning short fiction from the author of Bellflower and Things to See in Arizona, whose writing reflects “how we can endure and overcome our personal histories, better understand our ancestral ones, and accept the unknown future ahead.”

In “Driftwood,” a woman in a sleepy desert…

Want books like Must I Go?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 66 books like Must I Go.

Browse books like Must I Go

Book cover of Tirra Lirra by the River
Book cover of The Queen of the Tambourine
Book cover of House of the Sun

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,277

readers submitted
so far, will you?