A 2023 New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book
A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year
An Ernest J. Gaines Award-Winning Author
Rio, a young Black woman bereft after the loss of her newborn child, convinces her husband to help her construct a society underground, somewhere safe, somewhere everyone can feel loved, wanted, and accepted, where the children learn actual history, where everyone has an equal shot. She locates a benefactor and soon their utopia begins to take shape. Two unhoused men hear about it and immediately begin their journey to get there. A young and disillusioned journalist stumbles upon it and wants in. And a former soccer player, having lost his footing in society, is persuaded to check it out too. But what happens if this new society can't actually work? What then?