First published 2026
Magnolia, a Haitian American real estate agent, shops for her teenage daughter Zoë's first cellphone when gunfire erupts in a Miami mall. She takes cover in a restaurant called Oasis alongside other terrified shoppers and diners. Each person prays to their own gods while the violence unfolds around them. Once safe at home, Magnolia conceals what happened from everyone she loves. The trauma forces her to examine her life with new clarity. She questions her bond with Zoë and wonders what her daughter truly feels about their relationship. Her partnership with Harrison hangs by threads despite his devotion to both Magnolia and Zoë. Her mother's mental struggles and ghost-filled existence now seem like a preview of Magnolia's own future. Her father's affair becomes understandable as she grasps the source of his pain. Magnolia moves between Miami and Haiti, between fear and hope, between the living and the dead. She must decide where she belongs and whether love can shield her family from a dangerous world.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, african-american, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Haiti, Miami
Period: 21st-century
256 pages · Hardcover · Knopf
Content warnings: violence