First published 2020
Wallace, a biochemistry PhD candidate, navigates a fragile social ecosystem in a Midwestern university town. An introverted African-American transplant from Alabama, he maintains careful emotional distance from his diverse friend group—a protective strategy born of past wounds. When a series of confrontations with colleagues and an unexpected encounter with a straight man begin to destabilize his carefully constructed boundaries, Wallace finds himself forced to reckon with long-suppressed tensions. His academic world becomes a pressure cooker of unspoken resentments, sexual desire, and racial dynamics, threatening to unravel the delicate social fabric he's learned to survive within. As the late-summer weekend unfolds, Wallace must decide whether to maintain his protective isolation or risk genuine connection.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, african-american, contemporary, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, protective-isolation, social-outsider
Setting: Alabama, Midwest
Period: Late Summer
329 pages · Hardcover · Riverhead Books