A lyrical debut novel about a young Black woman who travels from New York to Atlanta to find her missing brother and develops a deep bond with a Black teenage girl along the way, as both women explore their connections with family, race, music, and activism and with the ancestors that haunt them.
A debut novel that asks what we owe to our families, what we owe to our ancestors, and what we owe to ourselves. Janelle M. Williams’ GONE LIKE YESTERDAY employs magical realism to explore the haunting experience of being a Black woman in today’s America.
Days before jaded college prep coach Zahra Robinson’s older brother Derrick goes missing, she meets Sammie, an outspoken Trini-American teenager who reminds Zahra of her brother. Since she was young, Zahra has heard the voices of her ancestors singing to her through moths, and when she realizes Sammie can hear them too, they must figure out together why these spirits haunt them and what exactly they could be trying to tell them. As they travel from Harlem to Atlanta to find Derrick and as both women attempt to come of age in their own ways, they have to deal with their dysfunctional family relationships, their racial identities, and how they can stay true to themselves while also fitting into the confines of society.
For fans of Little Fires Everywhere and Such a Fun Age, GONE LIKE YESTERDAY is a sharp, literary exploration of racial identity, family, and self, and what it means to be found.
A debut novel that asks what we owe to our families, what we owe to our ancestors, and what we owe to ourselves. Janelle M. Williams’ GONE LIKE YESTERDAY employs magical realism to explore the haunting experience of being a Black woman in today’s America.
Days before jaded college prep coach Zahra Robinson’s older brother Derrick goes missing, she meets Sammie, an outspoken Trini-American teenager who reminds Zahra of her brother. Since she was young, Zahra has heard the voices of her ancestors singing to her through moths, and when she realizes Sammie can hear them too, they must figure out together why these spirits haunt them and what exactly they could be trying to tell them. As they travel from Harlem to Atlanta to find Derrick and as both women attempt to come of age in their own ways, they have to deal with their dysfunctional family relationships, their racial identities, and how they can stay true to themselves while also fitting into the confines of society.
For fans of Little Fires Everywhere and Such a Fun Age, GONE LIKE YESTERDAY is a sharp, literary exploration of racial identity, family, and self, and what it means to be found.