I requested this from NetGalley solely based on the author, because I loved 2019's generational family members, The Old Drift, so much. Otherwise I probably would have skipped over, I don't read nearly as much literary/contemporary as other genres.

It was worth the gamble. Grief, especially the sort stemming from a childhood tragedy, is a messy thing with sharp edges and fuzzy ones, crying out for closure that may never come. This novel reflects that well. C's little brother drowned when she was 12, he was 7, and no body recovered. The first act deals primarily with that, from the sister's POV, dealing with a broken family, a mother determined not to give up hope though in ways that are detrimental to anyone else's closure, and navigating a coming of age under the shadow of tragedy.

I'm afraid to go too much into part 2 because spoilers. I went in blind and I think that serves best. I'll say you're thrust into a new POV quite suddenly and it serves well to give a reader a sense of non-closure because you don't know WHAT to think. A bit of stream of consciousness adds to the melee of feelings.

At the end of it all, this is a book that explores grief, inability to let go, in an extremely visceral way. You're gonna feel all kind of ways. I would TW for those that have experienced the sort of gut-wrenching tragedy of non-closure. It's a great book but it *hurts*.

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-furrows-by-namwali-serpell-brief-note/

The core of the story is parallel timelines where one of the leading characters did or didn’t die, which is often taken as sf, and some reflection on identity that wanders close to Philip K. Dick territory. This turns into commentary on grief, and on the problems of the contemporary US. Not sure that it totally hung together at the end. ( )

This took several unexpected turns, including right at the end. Most of them added to the tale, building to a crescendo that the author just kind of snuffs out in a bizarre finish. ( )

This book was lent to me after a poor recommendation, and I agree. It was a sad story about a family's loss and how so many people were affected through their lives. there was much repetition and boring details, so it did very little for me. there was some lyrical writing, but not enough to make it worth the time i spent on the story. the discussion regarding biracial people was also at times interesting. ( )

I listened to Namwali Serpell’s The Furrows this week and I can’t stop thinking/ talking about it. Pynchonesque. Structurally reminds me of Philip Roth’s Counterlife with a deceptive / self deceptive narrator who reinvents and undermines their story as the novel unfolds. Easily my favorite book of 2022. ( )