Namwali Serpell’s THE FURROWS received a stunning review from The Atlantic. Reviewer Tope Folarin writes: “[A] knotty, prismatic sophomore novel…[that] traverses many genres and points of view…Serpell is just such a scholar. And this ability to embrace different genres and forms of communication is evident in her fiction as well, especially in her debut, THE OLD DRIFT. In that capacious novel, she flits from historical fiction to contemporary fiction to science fiction. By comparison, THE FURROWS is a more concise affair, both in its narrative scope and its page count. Yet it is a robust tale, especially in its treatment of Wayne, who dies but never really seems dead…Serpell code-switches with ease, an ultimately crucial skill in a story that abounds with fluctuating realities. The book swerves from a realistic chronicle that bears all the markers of a grief tale to one that seems infused with magic, from standard-English dialogue to a pitch-perfect rendering of African American Vernacular English. Serpell also references and builds upon pop culture’s alternate-reality obsession, and the narrative vertigo that these stories induce in us. When I began reading the novel, I knew that Wayne had drowned in the ocean—but the power of Serpell’s storytelling was such that as the narrative progressed, I stopped being so sure.” THE FURROWS was also featured on The New Yorker’s list of “The Best Books of 2022 So Far,” alongside praise from their previous review for the novel: “Serpell’s second novel batters against the fixities of language like a moth at a windowpane…[T]hough the novel’s story lines turn and twist, the precision of Serpell’s language remains under exquisite control—while reminding us on every page that every story is necessarily an act of falsification.” Hogarth published the novel on September 27, 2022.
Namwali Serpell’s THE FURROWS received a stunning review from The Atlantic. Reviewer Tope Folarin writes: “[A] knotty, prismatic sophomore novel…[that] traverses many genres and points of view…Serpell is just such a scholar. And this ability to embrace different genres and forms of communication is evident in her fiction as well, especially in her debut, THE OLD DRIFT. In that capacious novel, she flits from historical fiction to contemporary fiction to science fiction. By comparison, THE FURROWS is a more concise affair, both in its narrative scope and its page count. Yet it is a robust tale, especially in its treatment of Wayne, who dies but never really seems dead…Serpell code-switches with ease, an ultimately crucial skill in a story that abounds with fluctuating realities. The book swerves from a realistic chronicle that bears all the markers of a grief tale to one that seems infused with magic, from standard-English dialogue to a pitch-perfect rendering of African American Vernacular English. Serpell also references and builds upon pop culture’s alternate-reality obsession, and the narrative vertigo that these stories induce in us. When I began reading the novel, I knew that Wayne had drowned in the ocean—but the power of Serpell’s storytelling was such that as the narrative progressed, I stopped being so sure.” THE FURROWS was also featured on The New Yorker’s list of “The Best Books of 2022 So Far,” alongside praise from their previous review for the novel: “Serpell’s second novel batters against the fixities of language like a moth at a windowpane…[T]hough the novel’s story lines turn and twist, the precision of Serpell’s language remains under exquisite control—while reminding us on every page that every story is necessarily an act of falsification.” Hogarth published the novel on September 27, 2022.
