First published 2009
Sepha Stephanos stands behind the counter of his struggling grocery store in a poor Washington D.C. neighborhood. Seventeen years have passed since he escaped the Ethiopian Revolution and landed in America. His days blur together in isolation, broken only by visits from two fellow African immigrants who share his bitter memories and homesickness. The three men cling to their shared past while watching their adopted country disappoint them. Everything shifts when Judith and her biracial daughter Naomi move nearby. Their friendship offers Sepha something he had forgotten existed. But the community around them grows tense as racial conflicts erupt. Sepha watches his fragile new connections threaten to collapse just as his old life once did. He must decide whether to retreat into familiar loneliness or fight for the relationships that might finally make America feel like home.
Genres: american-fiction, contemporary, family-drama, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: America, Ethiopia, Washington D.C.
Period: 17 years ago, Ethiopian Revolution
240 pages · Paperback · Vintage Books USA
Content warnings: racism