The Great Wherever

£16.99

A year after the death of her father, Aubrey Lamb receives a phone call from a distant cousin. She has inherited a share of a farm, down in the sun-streaked plains of Tennessee. Seeking distraction, and a way to erase a mounting pile of debt, Aubrey makes her way South to meet a family she barely knows. Watching her arrival with great interest, and wry scrutiny, are four ghosts: Aubrey’s ancestors, the keepers (and spillers) of the farm’s secrets. As Aubrey gets to know her living family, another story unfolds in parallel: the history of the land, beginning with its purchase by her great-grandfather, one of the first Black landowners in the community, the four children set to inherit it, their bitter rivalries, and the tragedy that echoes through the decades.

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Description

‘This book is a pleasure and a treasure’ TAYARI JONES, Women’s Prize-winning author of An American Marriage and Kin

THE DEAD ARE RELENTLESS GOSSIPS, OR AT LEAST THESE DEAD ARE…

A year after her father’s death, Aubrey learns she has inherited a share of a farm on the sun-streaked plains of Tennessee. Seeking a way to erase a mounting pile of debt, she travels South to meet a family she barely knows.
Watching her arrival are four ghosts: Aubrey’s ancestors, and the keepers of the farm’s secrets. As Aubrey gets to know her living relatives, the story of the land unfolds – her great-grandfather who bought it, one of the first Black landowners in the community, the four children set to inherit it, their bitter rivalries, and a tragedy that echoes through the decades…
With the sale of the farm looming, the ghosts face exile, and Aubrey must decide how much of her future she is willing to sacrifice to the claims of the past.
Dazzling and expansive, The Great Wherever is a multigenerational portrait of the American South, exploring land and legacy, race and generational wealth, and the sharp fragments of the past – how they spark and shine against the surface of our ordinary lives.
PRAISE FOR THE GREAT WHEREVER:

‘An epic and deeply human story’ PATRICK RYAN, author of the international bestseller Buckeye

‘A gift of a book’ VANESSA CHAN, author of the international bestseller The Storm We Made

‘Gripping, moving, witty, and wise, this is historical fiction at its finest’ MARGARET WILKERSON SEXTON, author of On the Rooftop, a Reese’s Book Club Pick

I felt dazzled and . . . in awe of all its beauty and magic’ DAWNIE WALTON, Women’s Prize-longlisted author of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev

ONE OF NEW YORK TIMES‘ NEW BOOKS TO READ IN JULY

NAMED ONE OF 2026’S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS BY: ESQUIRE | LITERARY HUB | BOOKPAGE | DEBUTIFUL

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Additional information

Weight 0.648 kg
Dimensions 24.3 × 16.4 × 3.8 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

416

Language

English

Edition

Hardback original

Dewey

813.6 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K