What We Lose: A Novel

ANationalBookFoundation5Under35HonoreeNBCCJohnLeonardFirstBookPrizeFinalistLonglistedfortheAndrewCarnegieMedalforExcellenceinFiction&theAspenWordsLiteraryPrizeNamedaBestBookoftheYearbyVogue,NPR,Elle,Esquire,Harper’sBazaar,TheHuffingtonPost,TheA.V.Club,TheRoot,Paste,Bustle,andKirkusReviews“Thedebutnoveloftheyear.”—Vogue“Likesomanystoriesoftheblackdiaspora,WhatWeLoseisanexaminationofhaunting.”—DoreenSt.Félix,TheNewYorker“Arichlyvolatilestudyofgrief,wondermentandlove.”—SamSacks,TheWallStreetJournal“Astartling,poignantdebut.”—TheAtlantic“Rawandravishing,thisnovelpulseswithvulnerabilityandshimmeringanger.”—NicoleDennis-Benn,O,theOprahMagazine“Stunning....Powerfullymovingandbeautifullywrought,WhatWeLosereflectsonfamily,love,loss,race,womanhood,andtheplaceswefeelhome.”—Buzzfeed“Rememberthisname:ZinziClemmons.LongmayshethrilluswithexquisiteworkslikeWhatWeLose....Thebookisaremarkablejourney.”—EssenceFromanauthorofrare,hauntingpower,astunningnovelaboutayoungAfrican-Americanwomancomingofage—adeeplyfeltmeditationonrace,sex,family,andcountryRaisedinPennsylvania,Thandiviewstheworldofhermother’schildhoodinJohannesburgasbothimpossiblydistantandeverpresent.Sheisanoutsiderwherevershegoes,caughtbetweenbeingblackandwhite,Americanandnot.Shetriestoconnectthesedislocatedpiecesofherlife,andashermothersuccumbstocancer,Thandisearchesforananchor—someone,orsomething,tolove.Inarrestingandunsettlingprose,wewatchThandi’slifeunfold,fromlosinghermotherandlearningtolivewithoutthepersonwhohasmostprofoundlyshapedherexistence,toherownencounterswithromanceandunexpectedmotherhood.Throughexquisiteandemotionalvignettes,Clemmonscreatesastunningportrayalofwhatitmeanstochoosetolive,afterloss.Anelegiacdistillation,atonceintellectualandvisceral,ofayoungwoman’sunderstandingofabsenceandidentitythatspanscontinentsanddecades,WhatWeLoseheraldsthearrivalofavirtuosicnewvoiceinfiction.OneoftheNewYorkTimes,HuffingtonPost,Buzzfeed,Cosmopolitan,Glamour,Redbook,MarieClaire,Essence,HoustonChronicle,LADailyNews,Nylon,andElle’sBookstoReadThisSummer