Gone Like Yesterday
A Novel
Janelle M. Williams
- **A
- GOOD
- MORNING
- AMERICA
- BUZZ
- PICKA
- lyrical
- 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’s
- Gone
- Like
- Yesterday
- employs
- magical
- realism
- to
- explore
- the
- majestic
- and
- haunting
- experience
- of
- being
- a
- Black
- woman
- in
- today’s
- America.**Gone
- Like
- Yesterday
- follows
- two
- Black
- women—Zahra,
- a
- listless
- college
- prep
- coach,
- and
- Sammie,
- a
- teenage
- girl
- and
- budding
- activist
- soon
- off
- to
- college—who
- are
- drawn
- to
- each
- other
- through
- the
- songs
- of
- gypsy
- moths.
- Gypsy
- moths
- have
- been
- singing
- the
- songs
- of
- Zahra’s
- ancestors
- to
- her
- for
- years,
- so
- when
- Zahra
- realizes
- that
- Sammie
- might
- be
- a
- moth
- person
- too,
- their
- paths
- become
- intertwined.Then,
- the
- unthinkable
- happens:
- Zahra’s
- brother,
- Derrick,
- goes
- missing.
- Derrick
- has
- always
- been
- different—sensitive
- and
- connected
- to
- the
- spiritual
- world,
- he
- has
- been
- drifting
- from
- Zahra
- and
- her
- family
- for
- some
- time.
- But
- this
- time
- feels
- different.
- Zahra
- is
- panicked
- that
- he
- may
- really
- be
- gone
- for
- good,
- lost
- to
- her
- forever.Zahra
- can’t
- let
- that
- happen.
- So,
- she,
- along
- with
- Sammie,
- embarks
- on
- a
- road
- trip
- from
- New
- York
- to
- Atlanta,
- Zahra’s
- hometown,
- in
- search
- of
- Zahra’s
- brother,
- but
- also
- to
- uncover
- just
- what
- the
- moths
- and
- their
- ancestors
- want
- with
- them,
- and
- what
- to
- do
- about
- their
- individual
- and
- collective
- futures.Sharp
- and
- wholly
- original,
- Gone
- Like
- Yesterday
- is
- a
- novel
- about
- family
- and
- legacy
- but
- also
- a
- literary
- exploration
- of
- racial
- identity,
- self,
- and
- what
- it
- means
- to
- be found.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
