The Uproar
A Novel
-
- $13.99
Publisher Description
A “raw, tensely plotted, profound high-wire act of a book” (Téa Obreht) on the intricacies of marriage, class, and race, and just how far one man will go to protect his family—and himself.
Sharif is a good person. He knows that he is good because he’s aware of the privilege that he holds as a white man. He knows he is good because he chose to be a social worker at a nonprofit in Brooklyn, scraping by in New York City. And he knows he is good because his wife, Adjoua, a progressive Black novelist, has always said so.
But Sharif’s goodness doesn’t protect him and Adjoua against bad luck. In an emergency, when they must find a new home for Judy, their beloved, unruly, giant dog before the imminent birth of their immunocompromised daughter, a desperate Sharif leaves Judy in the care of Emmanuel, an undocumented Haitian immigrant Sharif met through his social services nonprofit.
When Emmanuel agrees to take the dog, it is only a momentary relief. What begins as a dispute between the young couple and Emmanuel's teenage son soon draws both families into a maelstrom of unpredictable conflict. As tempers flare into a public uproar, escalating to social media and being taken up by law enforcement, the cracks in Sharif and Adjoua’s marriage are exposed. The couple is forced to confront everything they thought they knew about race and empathy, while Sharif must question if he was ever good in the first place. Immersive and propulsive, The Uproar is the book we need to understand the moment we live in now.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A white New York City social worker confronts the limits of his altruism in this tense offering from Dimechkie (Lifted by the Great Nothing). Sharif Safadi and his pregnant Black wife, Adjoua, are under pressure. Their unborn child has been diagnosed with leukemia, and they need to find a new home for their sweet but immunocompromising 150-pound dog, Judy. Out of desperation, Sharif leaves Judy with Emmanuel Fleurime, a Haitian immigrant whom he's only met once through work. Shortly after Adjoua goes into labor, Sharif returns to Emmanuel's building to drop off supplies, and spots Judy in a precarious position on the 14th floor's fire escape. He breaks into Emmanuel's apartment to save the dog, leading to a confrontation with Emmanuel's teenage son, Junior, who comes home to find Sharif there. Junior claims Sharif owes the Fleurimes money for dog care, but Sharif desperately shoves past him to rescue Judy. In the aftermath, Junior insists Sharif cursed him and broke his arm, which Sharif adamantly denies. As the affair escalates into a legal matter, an influencer from Junior's school fans the flames on social media, threatening Sharif and Adjoua's future. Dimechkie's morality tale asks tough questions about the role of self-interest in conflicts fueled by class and race divisions. It's sure to start conversations.
