Fiction
from A Dream Life
By Claire MessudWe’re excited to publish an excerpt from Claire Messud’s forthcoming novel, A Dream Life. It’s 1971, the Armstrongs have moved from New York to Australia and reluctantly inhabit the role of gentry in a grand manor on the harbor. Alice Armstrong, by turns class oblivious and class consumed, seeks help with the considerable domestic labor their new life entails. Her first housekeepers (one named Africa is briefly mentioned in this excerpt) don’t pan out. Enter Simone Funk, who both recenters the story and expands its frame.
from God of Mercy
By Okezie NwọkaWe’re excited to publish an excerpt from Okezie Nwọka’s debut novel, God of Mercy. The novel begins in an uncolonized Igbo village, where a young girl’s sudden ability to fly ignites a war between gods and divides a community. The protagonist, Ijeọma, is eventually exiled and imprisoned in a neighboring village by Christians who believe her gift to be a sign of witchcraft. With its unique rhythm and magical rendering of Igbo cosmology, God of Mercy is an immersive meditation on the beauty of tradition and the dangers of dogma.
