A dazzling multigenerational story, a portrait of a family and its history in the American South, and a contemporary heroine to lead us through, perfect for fans of Yaa Gyasi, Min Jin Lee, and Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
NAMED ONE OF 2026'S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS BY- ESQUIRE | LITERARY HUB | BOOKPAGE | DEBUTIFUL
Okay, but the afterlife? It's nothing like it looks in the movies . . .
A year after the death of her father, Aubrey Lamb receives a phone call from a distant cousin. She has inherited a share of a farm, down in the sun-streaked plains of Tennessee. Seeking distraction, and a way to erase a mounting pile of debt, Aubrey makes her way South to meet a family she barely knows.
Watching her arrival with great interest, and wry scrutiny, are four ghosts- Aubrey's ancestors, the keepers (and spillers) of the farm's secrets. As Aubrey gets to know her living family, another story unfolds in parallel- the history of the land, beginning with its purchase by her great-grandfather, one of the first Black landowners in the community, the four children set to inherit it, their bitter rivalries, and the tragedy that echoes through the decades . . .
Now, as the clock ticks on a potential sale of the farm, the ghosts fear expulsion from the home they've made, and Aubrey must weigh the hopes and burdens of her forebears with the very real needs of her future.
Dazzling and expansive, The Great Wherever is a multigenerational portrait of the American South, exploring land and legacies, race and generational wealth, and the sharp fragments of the past - how they spark and shine against the surface of our ordinary lives.
