No One Is Coming to Save Us

Watts, Stephanie Powell

ISBN 10: 1538412179 ISBN 13: 9781538412176

Publisher: Blackstone Pub, 2017

Synopsis

*THE INAUGURAL SARAH JESSICA PARKER PICK FOR BOOK CLUB CENTRAL*

CHOSEN AS A 2017 BEST SUMMER READ PICK BY

The Wall Street Journal - The Washington Post - The Seattle Times

NAMED ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2017 BY

Entertainment Weekly - Nylon - Elle - Redbook - W Magazine - The Chicago Review of Books

JJ Ferguson has returned home to Pinewood, North Carolina, to build his dream house and to pursue his high school sweetheart, Ava. But as he reenters his former world, where factories are in decline and the legacy of Jim Crow is still felt, he's startled to find that the people he once knew and loved have changed just as much as he has. Ava is now married and desperate for a baby, though she can't seem to carry one to term. Her husband, Henry, has grown distant, frustrated by the demise of the furniture industry, which has outsourced to China and stripped the area of jobs. Ava's mother, Sylvia, caters to and meddles with the lives of those around her, trying to fill the void left by her absent son. And Don, Sylvia's unworthy but charming husband, just won't stop hanging around.

JJ's return--and his plans to build a huge mansion overlooking Pinewood and woo Ava--not only unsettles their family, but stirs up the entire town. The ostentatious wealth that JJ has attained forces everyone to consider the cards they've been dealt, what more they want and deserve, and how they might go about getting it. Can they reorient their lives to align with their wishes rather than their current realities? Or are they all already resigned to the rhythms of the particular lives they lead?

No One Is Coming to Save Us is a revelatory debut from an insightful voice: with echoes of The Great Gatsby it is an arresting and powerful novel about an extended African American family and their colliding visions of the American Dream. In evocative prose, Stephanie Powell Watts has crafted a full and stunning portrait that combines a universally resonant story with an intimate glimpse into the hearts of one family.

About this title

Review:

"Watts writes about ordinary people leading ordinary lives with an extraordinary level of empathy and attention...The novel's intricately plotted relationships pay off satisfyingly in its final chapters."--New York Times Book Review

"Watts is so captivating a writer. She's unusually deft with dialogue...[The novel is] conveyed in a prose style that renders the common language of casual speech into natural poetry, blending intimate conversation with the rhythms of gossip, town legend, even song lyrics...An indelible story."--Washington Post

"Imagine The Great Gatsby, only set in the contemporary American South, and retold with black characters, rather than the lily-shite Long Island set. Watts' retelling is smart, unsettling, at times hilarious, and a wonderful update to this classic American novel."--Nylon Magazine

"This universally resonant story of the American Dream is a poignant examination of family and human nature."--Chicago Review of Books

"Patient yet rich...Watts powerfully depicts the struggles many Americans face trying to overcome life's inevitable disappointments. But it's the compassion she feels for her characters' vulnerability and desires...that make the story so relevant and memorable."--Publishers Weekly

"Deeply evocative."--W Magazine

"Inspired by The Great Gatsby, Watts loosely (masterfully, too) retells the American saga from the present day perspective of a once thriving African American community, breathing fresh life into a classic in a way that feels more essential, more moving than the original."--Marie Claire

"A deep, moving read."--Real Simple

"They say if you love something, you should set it free. Not so in Stephanie Powell Watts' powerful debut novel...This timely novel sheds its green light on economic and emotional heartbreak and the spaces where the living meet the dead."--Vanity Fair

"Watts excels at physical descriptions that give texture to the world of the novel... In the best possible way, this is the kind of book that makes a reader yearn for her next one."--Time

From the Back Cover:

JJ Ferguson has returned home to Pinewood, North Carolina, to build his dream house and to pursue his high school sweetheart, Ava. But as he reenters his former world, where factories are in decline and the legacy of Jim Crow is still felt, he's startled to find that the people he once knew and loved have changed just as much as he has. Ava is now married and desperate for a baby, though she can't seem to carry one to term. Her husband, Henry, has grown distant, frustrated by the demise of the furniture industry, which has outsourced to China and stripped the area of jobs. Ava's mother, Sylvia, caters to and meddles with the lives of those around her, trying to fill the void left by her absent son. And Don, Sylvia's unworthy but charming husband, just won't stop hanging around.

JJ's return--and his plans to build a huge mansion overlooking Pinewood and woo Ava--not only unsettles their family, but stirs up the entire town. The ostentatious wealth that JJ has attained forces everyone to consider the cards they've been dealt, what more they want and deserve, and how they might go about getting it. Can they reorient their lives to align with their wishes rather than their current realities? Or are they all already resigned to the rhythms of the particular lives they lead?

No One Is Coming to Save Us is a revelatory debut from an insightful voice; with echoes of The Great Gatsby it is an arresting and powerful novel about an extended African American family and their colliding visions of the American Dream. In evocative prose, Stephanie Powell Watts has crafted a full and stunning portrait that combines a universally resonant story with an intimate glimpse into the hearts of one family.

About this edition

• Publisher: Blackstone Pub
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1538412179
• ISBN 13: 9781538412176
• Binding: Audio CD