First published 2023
A biracial photographer struggles with years of ambivalence about having children. She has suffered a recent miscarriage that leaves her devastated. Her husband Asher wants to keep trying for a baby, but she questions bringing a Black child into America's current climate. When police brutally attack Noah, a boy from her photography class, her fears crystallize. She visits Noah secretly in the hospital while he fights for his life. The incident deepens her reluctance to become a mother. She throws herself into creating a documentary about motherhood as a way to process her conflicted feelings. Then she discovers she is pregnant again. The news forces her to confront what she truly wants for her future. She must decide whether hope can survive in a world where Black bodies face constant danger. Her white Jewish husband's desperation for a child clashes with her protective instincts. The pregnancy becomes a crucible where love, fear, trauma, and possibility collide.
Genres: african-american, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: America
Period: Current
160 pages · Paperback · Soft Skull
Content warnings: pregnancy-loss, racism