The Furrows
A Novel
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3.6 • 25 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award • One of the New York Times’ Ten Best Books of the Year • Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize
“A triumph.”—New York Magazine
From one of the most celebrated new voices in American literature, a brilliantly inventive and “enthralling” (Oprah Daily) novel about the eternal bonds of family and the mysteries of love and loss—“already earning its author comparisons to Toni Morrison” (Lit Hub).
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Oprah Daily, Time, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Esquire, Vulture, Ms. Magazine, Vox, Mental Floss, BookPage, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly
I don’t want to tell you what happened. I want to tell you how it felt.
Cassandra Williams is twelve; her little brother, Wayne, is seven. One day, when they’re alone together, there is an accident and Wayne is lost forever. His body is never recovered. The missing boy cleaves the family with doubt. Their father leaves, starts another family elsewhere. But their mother can’t give up hope and launches an organization dedicated to missing children.
As C grows older, she sees her brother everywhere: in bistros, airplane aisles, subway cars. Here is her brother’s face, the light in his eyes, the way he seems to recognize her, too. But it can’t be, of course. Or can it? Then one day, in another accident, C meets a man both mysterious and familiar, a man who is also searching for someone and for his own place in the world. His name is Wayne.
Namwali Serpell’s remarkable new novel captures the uncanny experience of grief, the way the past breaks over the present like waves in the sea. The Furrows is a bold exploration of memory and mourning that twists unexpectedly into a story of mistaken identity, double consciousness, and the wishful—and sometimes willful—longing for reunion with those we’ve lost.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the brilliant and impressionistic latest from Serpell (The Old Drift), a young woman traverses the trenches of grief that have shaped her life. Cassandra's younger brother, Wayne, drowned at the beach when she was 12, and his body was never found. With the steadiness of water seeking its level, Serpell explores the parallel but distinct realities Cassandra and her parents inhabit, leading up to her postcollege years: she's forever in therapy, her mother won't admit Wayne has died, and her father leaves them to start a new life. Whenever Cassandra is asked to retell the story, she can't make sense of it. In a breathtaking maneuver, Serpell resets the novel again and again, cycling through possible accidents that convey Cassandra's shock: Wayne drowns, he's hit by a car, he's thrown from a carousel. Then, Cassandra meets an enigmatic man she seems to know is her brother by the light in his eyes. In a series of shocking twists, Serpell shatters comfortable ideas about grief and melds Cassandra's glittering narrative shards into a searching, unforgettable story. It's a considerable shift from the huge canvas of her previous work, and no less captivating. P.J. Mark, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc.
Customer Reviews
Great
Simply put, the best novel ever written about grief and loss.
A leading cause of detachment styles and at the forefront of being M.I.A
This book provides an in depth look into the individual circumstances within members of a broken family specifically the youngest member the baby boy who becomes estranged as a necessity due to the families personal conflict with irregularity, domestic upheaval, and an inability to disconnect from detrimental services outside of the family circle which hindered their relationships on the home front and outside. I did not like the portrayals of their dark encounters or experiences without one another or away from one another, but relief could be found in their presence, whether momentary or fleeting…. It also gives a perspective on their relationship with accepting intimacy with each other, and varying perspectives on issues revolving around topics of uncertainty, race, forbidden love and the side-effects of “off- limit” areas physically, emotional sensitivities, internal inaccuracies and the provision of this. Acceptability and acknowledgements or the lack there of in public and out of public…or societal norms within that and the quirkiness found in that. The unwavering independence or reliance of self that the members developed or acquired from their respective experiences in addition to a appreciation for that which is drama free (a naturalistic approach) is to be reveled but also stunning, and endearing. Hopefully “The Furrows” will be enough for you to find the courage for you to see yourself in or out of your own vogue….or furrow regardless of the parameters, limitations, and who we may meet and or choose to keep and how we keep them or it (consciously or unconsciously) along way….that love is love in a roundabout way!
A viewpoint of the possibilities behind blowing people off, blowing off steam, blowing something off or telling someone to “blow off”….
And that sometimes all that may be needed in order for one to heal is a gentle healing touch or a gesture of warm affection…
In short another way to look at the verse Moses 5:34- Where is Cain? Or Am I my brothers keeper…. I AM!
Brilliant!
A story that is told from the inner regions of deep-seeded emotions and sensations. I was pulled in at once. It takes you on a journey of life’s hardships and leaves you exalted. Be prepared to be wowed! Serpell is a unique and captivating story teller. Highly recommend.