The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy
Angela Flournoy’s 2015 debutThe Turner Housewas highly acclaimed and widely loved, and many readers—myself included—have been eagerly awaiting her follow-up ever since. Whatever you call the opposite of a sophomore slump, this is it.
The Wildernessfollows a group of Black women through decades of friendship and into the near future, as they navigate the impacts of race, class, and gender on their lives in two of America’s biggest cities. It’s a masterfully written and often surprising story that confirms Flournoy as one of the most vital novelists working today.
Already named a finalist for the 2025 Kirkus Prize for Fiction and longlisted for the National Book Award, this one is sure to spark conversation and likely to take home some hardware. —Rebecca Schinsky