Let Them Stare

A Novel

By: Jonathan Van Ness

Narrated by: Julie Murphy, Jonathan Van Ness, Jeremy Arthur

An instant New York Times and Indie bestseller!

From Emmy Award winner Jonathan Van Ness of Queer Eye and #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy comes a bighearted story about friendship, love—and discovering the secrets and beauty of your own hometown.

Sully is ready to get out of Hearst, Pennsylvania. With a fashion internship secured, the gender-nonconforming eighteen-year-old is trading in their stifling small town for the big city. Sully even sells their beloved car, to Bread—er, Brad—the most boring (and maybe only other) gay kid in town.

When Sully’s internship goes up in smoke, they’re trapped in Hearst with no cash—and no car. Desperate, they go to the thrift store, their personal sanctuary. There, they discover a vintage bag—like ""put this baby in an airtight case at the MET"" vintage. If Sully can authenticate it, the resale value would be enough for a new life in the city.

But when they begin to investigate, Sully finds themself haunted. Literally. With the ghost of Rufus, a drag performer from the fifties with no memory of how he died standing—no, floating—in their bedroom, Sully’s summer has a new purpose: 1) help this ghostly honey unlock his past and move on and 2) make bank—after all, the Real Real doesn’t take poltergeist purses.

With Rufus in tow, and Brad—who’s looking pretty scrumptious these days—playing chauffeur, Sully delves into the history of the town they’re so desperate to escape. Only to discover that there might be more to Hearst than they ever knew.

©2025 Jonathan Van Ness (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers

Fun and entertaining!

This is an Entertaining story containing a mystery with interesting characters and some hilarious dialogue.

Made me feel accepted

This book was wonderful to listen to, super fun and exciting but most of all I felt like I was apart of the queer community and that I was seen. The authors did a great job and I had a blast listening to JVN reading the book

Love the Queer History!

JVN’s reading of this is so engaging and entertaining. The love able characters make learning queer history and culture so accessible. Fun mystery with a beautiful ending. Great read!

I really love this book

I really love this book. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I really like a book that leaves you feeling positive.

incredibly relatable and even more uplifting

It's not easy to talk about your lived experience, even on a good day. It's even harder to be so open and vulnerable, while staying positive and focusing on what you've learned from the harder times.

JVN has managed to capture an incredibly relatable experience, regardless of the gender of the reader. I am OBSESSED with this audiobook, I can't wait for a hardcopy, and this is absolutely on the BBA reading list.

plööm, JVN! 🥰

Amazing story

This book was amazing. It hits you with all of the feels. I am so sad that it ended but so glad they ended happy and loved.