Kirjahaku

Did you realize? The dead are relentless gossips, or at least these dead are. We try to be reasonable, but do we judge? Like shit. At thirty-two, Aubrey Lamb is stumbling through life. A semi-employed gig worker, she's still grieving her late father and coming to terms with being dumped by the man she had hoped to marry. Into this mess comes a call from a distant cousin about the land she has a vague memory of inheriting from her father – a sizable farm down in Lanyer County, Tennessee. Seeking distraction (and perhaps an opportunity to erase her mounting debts), Aubrey goes on a mission to get to know the land and the rich family history that lives there. The Lambs have owned the farm for nearly a century, beginning with Aubrey’s great-grandfather Thomas, one of the first Black landowners in his community, who gave his four children a homestead on which they could flourish. But the family farm proves to be a burdened inheritance, with rivalries, legal issues and one tragic event leaving a trail of consequences for years to come. An expansive family saga with a modern voice, The Great Wherever is at once grand and intimate. Under the watchful and gossipy eyes of the ghosts of Aubrey’s ancestors, it explores the ways we learn to define ourselves through and against our family, how we carry on after loss, and how the past lives on in all of us. *** PRAISE FOR SHANNON SANDERS: 'A deftly woven tapestry that scruptuously depicts familial ties and estraangement' JONATHAN ESCOFFERY, Booker Prize shortlisted author of If I Survive You 'Brilliant . . . this delighted me' ANN NAPOLITANO, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful 'Reading Shannon Sanders makes me want to visit home' TONY TULATHIMUTTE, author of Rejection 'Sanders extracts comedy from the formidable situations that erupt in people's lives' WASHINGTON POST

The dead are relentless gossips, or at least these dead are. An impulsive and heartbroken woman inherits her father's share of a Tennessee farm that is rich in family secrets and occupied with busybody ghosts in this sweeping family portrait. At thirty-two, Aubrey Lamb is stumbling into adulthood. An underpaid gig worker in Washington, DC, she's grieving the end of a serious relationship and the recent loss of her father. When Aubrey learns that she has inherited his share stake in a sizable Tennessee farm from her father, she sees an opportunity to get out of the city--and to erase a mounting pile of debt. Watching her arrival with great interest are four ghosts--Aubrey's ancestors, who've staked their own claims to the farm, and who never hesitate to pass judgment on the mistakes made by the living, whether romantic, financial, or sartorial. As Aubrey reconnects with her living family, another story unfolds in parallel: the history of the land, beginning with its purchase by Thomas, Aubrey's great-grandfather and one of the first Black landowners in his community. Though Thomas hopes to give his children a homestead on which they could flourish, the land proves to be a burdensome inheritance. Over the years, it divides the family, turning Thomas's descendants against one another, culminating in a catastrophic tragedy that splinters the family and echoes through the decades. Now, as the clock ticks on a potential sale of the farm, the ghosts fear expulsion from the home they've made, and Aubrey must weigh the hopes and burdens of her forebears with the very real needs of her future. An expansive family saga told with a wry and distinctly modern voice, The Great Wherever is at once grand and intimate; it explores the ways we learn to define ourselves through and against our family, how we carry on after loss, and how the past lives on in all of us.

WINNER OF THE 2023 LOS ANGELES TIMES ART SEIDENBAUM AWARD FOR FIRST FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 WILLIAM SAROYAN INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR WRITING A richly detailed, brilliantly woven debut collection about the lives and lore of one Black family, named one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2023 Shannon Sanders's sparkling debut brings us into the company of the Collins family and their acquaintances as they meet, bicker, compete, celebrate, worry, keep and reveal secrets, build lives and careers, and endure. Moving from Atlantic City to New York to DC, from the 1960s to the 2000s, from law students to drag performers to violinists to matriarchs, Company tells a multifaceted, multigenerational saga in thirteen stories. Each piece includes a moment when a guest arrives at someone's home. In "The Good, Good Men," two brothers reunite to oust a "deadbeat" boyfriend from their mother's house. In "The Everest Society," the brothers' sister anxiously prepares for a home visit from a social worker before adopting a child. In "Birds of Paradise," their aunt, newly promoted to university provost, navigates a minefield of microaggressions at her own welcome party. And in the haunting title story, the provost's sister finds her solitary life disrupted when her late sister's daughter comes calling. These are stories about intimacy, societal and familial obligations, and the ways inheritances shape our fates. Buoyant, somber, sharp, and affectionate, this collection announces a remarkable new voice in fiction.

WINNER OF THE 2023 LOS ANGELES TIMES ART SEIDENBAUM AWARD FOR FIRST FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 WILLIAM SAROYAN INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR WRITING A richly detailed, brilliantly woven debut collection about the lives and lore of one Black family, named one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2023 Shannon Sanders's sparkling debut brings us into the company of the Collins family and their acquaintances as they meet, bicker, compete, celebrate, worry, keep and reveal secrets, build lives and careers, and endure. Moving from Atlantic City to New York to DC, from the 1960s to the 2000s, from law students to drag performers to violinists to matriarchs, Company tells a multifaceted, multigenerational saga in thirteen stories. Each piece includes a moment when a guest arrives at someone's home. In "The Good, Good Men," two brothers reunite to oust a "deadbeat" boyfriend from their mother's house. In "The Everest Society," the brothers' sister anxiously prepares for a home visit from a social worker before adopting a child. In "Birds of Paradise," their aunt, newly promoted to university provost, navigates a minefield of microaggressions at her own welcome party. And in the haunting title story, the provost's sister finds her solitary life disrupted when her late sister's daughter comes calling. These are stories about intimacy, societal and familial obligations, and the ways inheritances shape our fates. Buoyant, somber, sharp, and affectionate, this collection announces a remarkable new voice in fiction.

'A RIOTOUS, DAZZLING DEBUT' DEESHA PHILYAW 'READING SHANNON SANDERS MAKES ME WANT TO VISIT HOME TONY TULATHIMUTTE THE HEARTFELT CELEBRATION OF FAMILY AND THE MESSY BEAUTY OF BELONGING FOR FANS OF BLUE SISTERS and SMALL WORLDS One family. Thirteen stories. Meet the sisters - Cassandra, Fay, Lela, and Suzette - and their circle of relatives, friends and lovers. A jostling clan of dropouts and overachievers, bickering siblings and delightfully bossy aunties. Journeying from a smoky jazz bar to a glittering campus soirée, this is a family portrait that refuses to sit still and a joyful, multigenerational celebration of belonging. FURTHER PRAISE FOR COMPANY... 'A brilliant debut with each incisive chapter offering a new window into the beguiling Collins family' Ann Napolitano, author of Hello Beautiful 'There are undeniable shades of Bernardine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other. . . Sanders has fun playing with her characters as alignments and allegiances shift' Marie Claire 'A deftly woven tapestry that scrupulously depicts familial ties and estrangement' New York Times 'Offers sharp and original insight into the intimate politics of race and class' Danielle Evans, author of The Office of Historical Corrections

This is a celebration of family - of shifting allegiances, riotous laughter, complicated love. Meet four sisters - Cassandra, Fay, Lela, and Suzette - and their sprawling circle of daughters and sons, parents and cousins, friends and lovers. Here are strong women and enigmatic men whose quirks are written in their children's faces, whose siblings are always getting their shared stories wrong, whose needs weigh heavily: money, status, a lover, a child - or simply company. Journeying from a glittering soirée to a haunted porch, Company is a multigenerational, joyfully honest expression of belonging - and of how far we sometimes land from home.