“It was on the cusp of an English summer morning, that ‘Tiger’ Lilly crouched down in the wet grass to retrieve a rare stray arrow, and found herself eye to gelatinous eye with a two-and-a-half-foot, fifty-odd-pound goldfish.”

So begins an emotional journey across Europe and Africa, as fierce would-be scientist Lilly, her grieving philosopher father Jake, rebellious octogenarian Vadim, and disillusioned marine biologist María brave internal tensions and external dangers to bring Hector – a bioluminescent goldfish whose presence challenges the boundaries between reason, belief, and empathy – to his mate in Lalibela, Ethiopia.

Where Goldfish Fly is a work of adult literary fiction with magical realist elements, told through the voices of four flawed and deeply human characters. It traces how their growing bond and their different ways of making sense of the world is reshaped by Hector’s presence, as each of them confronts loss, belief, and the fragile promise of found family.