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Book Summary and Reviews of Kingdom of No Tomorrow by Fabienne Josaphat

Kingdom of No Tomorrow by Fabienne Josaphat

Kingdom of No Tomorrow

by Fabienne Josaphat

  • Publishes:
  • Dec 3, 2024, 288 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

From a PEN/Bellwether Prizewinner, a "beautifully convincing slice of history" (Barbara Kingsolver) novel about the Black Panther Party, perfect for fans of The Love Songs of W. E. B. Dubois.

Nettie Boileau joins the Black Panthers' Free Health Clinics in Oakland in 1968 and is soon swept up in an all-consuming love affair with Melvin Mosley, a defense captain of the Black Panther Party. When Nettie and Melvin head to Chicago to help launch the Illinois chapter of the Panthers, they find themselves targets of J. Edgar Hoover's famous covert campaigns against civil rights leaders. 

As she learns more about the inner workings of the Panthers, Nettie discovers that fighting for social justice may not always mean equal justice for women. 

Fabienne Josaphat's Kingdom of No Tomorrow is a timely story of self-determination and revolution amid injustice.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Josaphat fills the pages with vivid depictions of historical figures such as Stokely Carmichael, whose speech during a rally to free Huey Newton solidifies Nettie's resolve to join the party, and explores the stark reality of what it was like for the Black Panthers to live under the constant threat of infiltration and violence from law enforcement. This dynamic and layered novel offers much to admire." —Publishers Weekly

"The author is drawing clear parallels between police violence then and now. In her acknowledgements, Josaphat writes that she has 'always been fascinated by the minds of radicals.' Unhappily, her cliched prose makes a poor container for the history she reveres. A strong premise set amid the Black Panther Party falters in its execution." —Kirkus Reviews

"This beautifully convincing slice of history is powered not just by good research, but by lots of suspense, compelling characters, and understated political themes that broke my heart because of how timely they remain. The Kingdom of No Tomorrow will bring the fierce vision of the Black Panthers to new generations of readers, adding some stunning context to the modern Black Lives Matter movement." ―Barbara Kingsolver, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Demon Copperhead

"With her timely and urgent novel, and through the eyes, heart, and soul of Nettie, we are brought front and center into the world of the Panthers, and how they struggled to bring the Black community into a place where justice was possible. Kingdom of No Tomorrow is ambitious in scope and brave in execution. 'Nettie had grown accustomed to the kind of darkness the human eye couldn't recognize,' the novel begins, but there is also lightness and hope. Nettie is a character to cheer for, and her struggles remain relevant in the chaos and upheaval we are living through today." ―Naomi Benaron, author of PEN/Bellwether winner Running the Rift

This information about Kingdom of No Tomorrow was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Fabienne Josaphat

Fabienne Josaphat was born and raised in Haiti, and graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University. Of her first novel, Dancing in the Baron's Shadow published with Unnamed Press, Edwidge Danticat said, "Filled with life, suspense, and humor, this powerful first novel is an irresistible read about the nature of good and evil, terror and injustice, and ultimately triumph and love." In addition to fiction, Josaphat writes non-fiction and poetry, as well as screenplays. Her work has been featured in The African American Review, The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, The Master's Review, Grist Journal, Damselfly, Hinchas de Poesia, Off the Coast Journal and The Caribbean Writer. Her poems have been anthologized in Eight Miami Poets, a Jai-Alai Books publication. Fabienne Josaphat lives in South Florida.

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