Yonder: A Novel

by Jabari Asim Narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Lamarr Gulley, JD Jackson, Adam Lazarre-White, Imani Jade Powers, Janina Edwards

Overview

The Water Dancer meets The Prophets in this spare, gripping, and beautifully rendered novel exploring love and friendship among a group of enslaved Black strivers in the mid-19th century.

They call themselves the Stolen. Their owners call them captives. They are taught their captors' tongues and their beliefs but they have a language and rituals all their own.

In a world that would be allegorical if it weren't saturated in harsh truths, Cato and William meet at Placid Hall, a plantation in an unspecified part of the American South. Subject to the whims of their tyrannical and eccentric captor, Cannonball Greene, they never know what harm may befall them: inhumane physical toil in the plantation's quarry by day, a beating by night, or the sale of a loved one at any moment. It's that cruel practice-the wanton destruction of love, the belief that Black people aren't even capable of loving-that hurts the most.

It hurts the reserved and stubborn William, who finds himself falling for Margaret, a small but mighty woman with self-possession beyond her years. And it hurts Cato, whose first love, Iris, was sold off with no forewarning. He now finds solace in his hearty band of friends, including William, who is like a brother; Margaret; Little Zander; and Milton, a gifted artist. There is also Pandora, with thick braids and long limbs, whose beauty calls to him.

Their relationships begin to fray when a visiting minister with a mysterious past starts to fill their heads with ideas about independence. He tells them that with freedom comes the right to choose the small things-when to dine, when to begin and end work-as well as the big things, such as whom and how to love. Do they follow the preacher and pursue the unknown? Confined in a landscape marked by deceit and uncertainty, who can they trust?

In an elegant work of monumental imagination that will reorient how we think of the legacy of America's shameful past, Jabari Asim presents a beautiful, powerful, and elegiac novel that examines intimacy and longing in the quarters while asking a vital question: What would happen if an enslaved person risked everything for love?

Editorial Reviews

FEBRUARY 2022 - AudioFile

This is the beautiful story, painful in many places, of Cato and William, two enslaved men who meet in unimaginable conditions with the promise of freedom on the horizon. A talented cast, made up of Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Lamarr Gulley, JD Jackson, Adam Lazarre-White, Imani Jade Powers, and Janina Edwards, rise to the challenge of fleshing out the pain and beauty at the heart of this novel. Each narrator unflinchingly describes harsh conditions, separations of parents from children, and casual brutalities. Lazarre-White, Jackson, and Gulley provide rich baritones laced with soft Southern accents for the male characters. Abott-Pratt, Powers, and Edwards portray the strong, suffering women. Listeners will want to keep in mind the mature nature of this content and where they play these chapters. M.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

★ 10/11/2021

Novelist and cultural critic Asim (We Can’t Breathe) delivers a searing and redemptive story of slavery and survival. Set in the antebellum South, it is narrated primarily by enslaved people who call themselves the “Stolen” and white people “Thieves.” To sustain themselves through the cruelties of their owner, Cannonball Greene, a philandering pseudo-intellectual planning a study of Africans in America, the Stolen rely on their rituals and bonds. Inspired by myths of the Buba Yalis, Zander, a teen, believes he will one day fly like his African ancestors. Cato eases the shattering grief of his lover’s death by adding her name to the seven words chosen by the elders for each Stolen at birth, in the belief that “words were mighty enough to change condition.” William doubts the power of all words, trusting action instead. When he stops Cupid, the plantation’s slave foreman, from bullying Zander one night, the two men fight. Cato steps in and kills Cupid, then helps William bury him in the woods. Faced with Greene’s rage, the others, heeding the promises of freedom offered by an itinerant Black preacher, consider a risky escape. Asim convincingly portrays what W.E.B. Du Bois would later term “double consciousness” among the Stolen: “All of us have two tongues,” an unnamed Stolen says, distinguishing between the “lament cloaked in deception” used for their enslavers and the rich, transgressive language used among themselves. At once intimate and majestic, the prose marries a gripping narrative with an unforgettable exploration of the power of stories, language, and hope. With a bold vision, Asim demonstrates his remarkable gifts. Agent: Joy Harris, Joy Harris Literary. (Jan.)

From the Publisher

Asim delivers a fresh, sweeping, must-read tale.” —New York Times

“I'm a sucker for stories that place love between Black people at the center of settings where, traditionally, Black love was thought impossible or unimaginable. I'm particularly drawn to books that re-examine that dreadful period in American history that we think we already know everything about — antebellum slavery — to reveal the layers, testimonies, and nuances that had previously been ignored. And to have this all drawn magnificently by the brilliant Jabari Asim makes this an absolute must-read for me.” —Robert Jones Jr., Entertainment Weekly (most anticipated books of 2022)

“[M]ajestic...Asim demonstrates all a novel can be: soaring and grounded, personal and epic, thrilling and quiet. A wonder-filled novel about the power of words and stories to bring hope to the most difficult situations.” —Kirkus (starred review)

“A mesmerizing touch of magical realism... As the enslaved embark on a soaring adventure in pursuit of freedom, a gripping and satisfying crescendo caps this lyrical story." —Booklist (starred review)

“Asim delivers a searing and redemptive story of slavery and survival...At once intimate and majestic, the prose marries a gripping narrative with an unforgettable exploration of the power of stories, language, and hope. With a bold vision, Asim demonstrates his remarkable gifts.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Exceptional. A splendid addition to the library of fiction on American slavery, which—given the centuries it existed—is not as large as it could be. Skillfully wielding a number of literary tools, including a grand way with language, Asim reveals the slaves’ everyday world away from the lash and brutality: the loves, the laughter, the age-old tussles with life. Yonder builds a permanent place in a reader’s mind. Asim is to be applauded.” —Edward P. Jones, author of The Known World

“Jabari Asim’s masterful Yonder has no doubt set our Ancestors to dancing and rejoicing. A compelling and dazzling storyteller, Asim beautifully captures the depth of their bonds, intellect, and unwavering commitment to each other, honoring the fullness of their humanity against the backdrop of enslavement. This novel made me shout, cry, laugh, and, most of all, believe.” —Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

“The magic of Yonder is the hope and love and devotion that shine from its pages despite the darkness and brutality that surround its loving, beloved characters. Asim’s story is utterly absorbing. His people have wings; let them transport you.” —Margot Livesey, New York Times bestselling author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy

“Brilliant! A fresh telling of a story we think we already know, Yonder is wholly engrossing and expertly executed. With beautiful language laced with raw honesty, Jabari Asim has written a novel that I know will forever impact the way I think of the merciless nature of slavery and the enduring power of love.” —Sadeqa Johnson, internationally bestselling author of Yellow Wife

FEBRUARY 2022 - AudioFile

This is the beautiful story, painful in many places, of Cato and William, two enslaved men who meet in unimaginable conditions with the promise of freedom on the horizon. A talented cast, made up of Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Lamarr Gulley, JD Jackson, Adam Lazarre-White, Imani Jade Powers, and Janina Edwards, rise to the challenge of fleshing out the pain and beauty at the heart of this novel. Each narrator unflinchingly describes harsh conditions, separations of parents from children, and casual brutalities. Lazarre-White, Jackson, and Gulley provide rich baritones laced with soft Southern accents for the male characters. Abott-Pratt, Powers, and Edwards portray the strong, suffering women. Listeners will want to keep in mind the mature nature of this content and where they play these chapters. M.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2021-10-27
A novel of enslaved people reaching for love and freedom.

Asim's multifaceted oeuvre includes 12 books for children, a collection of poetry, acclaimed works of social criticism, and a short story collection. His majestic second novel is set in the mid-19th century on a plantation called Placid Hall, which is within a hundred miles of free soil. The slaves call themselves the Stolen, and White people, from plantation owners down to children, are referred to as Thieves. Despite living in a society determined to keep the Stolen uneducated and unaware of their surroundings, the enslaved people of Placid Hall hold on to as much of their humanity as possible. They dream of freedom, they fall in love despite knowing they could be separated from their partners or children at any moment, and they believe in the power of words and storytelling. “Our elders taught us that words were mighty enough to change our condition. They whispered seven words into the ears of every Stolen newborn before the child was given a name, seven words carefully chosen for that child alone.” The seven words serve as part prayer and part talisman, but they also give each of the Stolen an identity apart from slavery. Told in quick chapters, many just two or three pages long, that alternate narrators among the Stolen, the novel manages to convey the horrors and vicissitudes of slavery while never compromising each character’s humanity. William is strong and stubborn and hopelessly in love with Margaret. Cato is still grieving the death of his love but begins to see a new future with Pandora. These four, plus Little Zander—who’s always practicing flying away—have to decide if they’re ready to risk their lives for the dream of a better future. Asim demonstrates all a novel can be: soaring and grounded, personal and epic, thrilling and quiet.

A wonder-filled novel about the power of words and stories to bring hope to the most difficult situations.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173267856
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	01/11/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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