Set in New York City, the novel follows an actress who is in rehearsals for a play called The Opposite Shore.

For lunch, she meets a younger man named Xavier who, at times, claims to be her son.

Kitamura came upon the idea for the novel in the 2010s when she read an article about a woman who had encountered a stranger claiming to be her son.

[3] Audition has been considered a highly anticipated release for 2025 by Time, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Electric Literature, Axios, Marie Claire, and Looper.

"[11] Vogue said that Kitamura "writes with a spare, almost clinical efficiency, but that doesn’t limit the depth of her characters or the complexity of the dynamics she depicts" and concluded: "The strange pendulum swing from one scenario to the other catches you off guard—and isn’t that the mark of truly exciting fiction?