Serpell, Namwali

Namwali Serpell was born in Lusaka, Zambia, and lives in New York. She is the author of the novel The Old Drift, the book of essays Stranger Faces, and her work of literary criticism, Seven Modes of Uncertainty. In The Furrows: A Novel (Hogarth), Cassandra Williams is 12; her little brother, Wayne, is 7. One day, when they’re alone together, there is an accident, and Wayne is lost forever. His body is never recovered. The missing boy splits the family with doubt. Their father leaves. But their mother can’t give up hope and launches an organization dedicated to missing children. As Cassandra grows older, she sees her brother everywhere: in bistros, airplane aisles, and subway cars. Then one day, in another accident, Cassandra meets a man mysterious and familiar, who is also searching for someone and his own place in the world. His name is Wayne. The Furrows captures the experience of grief, the way the past breaks over the present like waves in the sea. It’s 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.