The Days of Afrekete: A Novel

Product Description
“I didn’t feel like I was reading this novel―I felt like I was living it.” ―Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch HouseFrom award-winning author Asali Solomon, The Days of Afrekete is a tender, surprising novel of two women at midlife who rediscover themselves―and perhaps each other, inspired by Mrs. Dalloway, Sula, and Audre Lorde’s ZamiLiselle Belmont is having a dinner party.It seems a strange occasion―her husband, Winn, has lost his bid for the state legislature―but what better way to thank key supporters than a feast? Liselle was never sure about her husband becoming a politician, never sure about the limelight, never sure about the life of fundraising and stump speeches. Then an FBI agent calls to warn her that Winn might be facing corruption charges. An avalanche of questions tumbles around her: Is it possible he’s guilty? Who are they to each other; who have they become? How much of herself has she lost―and was it worth it? And just this minute, how will she make it through this dinner party?Across town, Selena Octave is making her way through the same day, the same way she always does―one foot in front of the other, keeping quiet and focused, trying not to see the terrors all around her. Homelessness, starving children, the very living horrors of history that made America possible: these and other thoughts have made it difficult for her to live an easy life. The only time she was ever really happy was with Liselle, back in college. But they’ve lost touch, so much so that when they ran into each other at a drugstore just after Obama was elected president, they barely spoke. But as the day wears on, memories of Liselle begin to shift Selena’s path.Inspired by Mrs. Dalloway and Sula, as well as Audre Lorde’s Zami, Asali Solomon’s The Days of Afrekete is a deft, expertly layered, naturally funny, and deeply human examination of two women coming back to themselves at midlife. It is a watchful celebration of our choices and where they take us, the people who change us, and how we can reimagine ourselves even when our lives seem set.
Review
A Belletrist Book Club PickA Finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary ExcellenceA New York Times Book Review Editor’s ChoiceA Best Book of the Year: New York A Best Book of October: TIME, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ms.A Most Anticipated Book of 2021: The Millions, Lit HubA Most Anticipated Book of the Fall: New York, The Boston Globe“[The Days of Afrekete] is a feat of engineering. It’s also a reverie, a riff on Mrs. Dalloway and a love story. In Liselle, Solomon has invented a character who comes to the mind’s eye in HD, with anxieties, jokes, memories, furies and survival instincts all present in prose as clear as water.”―Molly Young, The New York Times“Stunning.”―Bethanne Patrick, The Washington Post“Searing.”―Annabel Gutterman, TIME“A taut study of doubleness and marital ruin that kept me up all night. Solomon is precise and tender, even as she deals with lurid, human sins and the terror of critical mass―that it is inevitable, and that despite our need to travel backward, it cannot be undone.”―Raven Leilani, The Guardian“A biting satire of upper-middle-class mores with a wistful love story.”―Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal“Short, sharp . . . poignant yet often bitingly funny . . . [and] observed and in shrewd detail.”―Wendy Smith, The Washington Post“Tense, affecting, and slyly funny.”―Patrick Rapa, The Philadelphia Inquirer“Fresh and funny, offering reflections on friendships, choices and how the past truly shapes the future.”―Karla Strand, Ms. “The Days of Afrekete is so elegant and fresh, so sophisticated and modern, I didn’t feel like I was reading this novel―I felt like I was living it. I loved every minute.”―Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House“With both a precise focus on a single day and the range to cover decades, The Days of Afrekete beautifully captures what it feels like to find yourself going through