…Stephanie Powell Watts's skillful riff on The Great Gatsby…revolves around a contemporary black family in a declining North Carolina town. Which doesn't mean that No One Is Coming to Save Us is some kind of Jay Z Gatsby fantasy…Watts writes about ordinary people leading ordinary lives with an extraordinary level of empathy and attention…Watts is interested in what black people are allowed to want—and allow themselves to want—in 21st-century America, and what it takes to venture a real claim for a place, a home…The ways in which No One Is Coming to Save Us intersects with and veers away from Fitzgerald's familiar plot can be very rewarding…Every departure can be seen as a sly comment on what it means to be a person of color in today's America.
No One Is Coming to Save Us
Narrated by Janina Edwards
Stephanie Powell WattsUnabridged — 10 hours, 57 minutes
No One Is Coming to Save Us
Narrated by Janina Edwards
Stephanie Powell WattsUnabridged — 10 hours, 57 minutes
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Overview
JJ Ferguson has returned home to Pinewood, North Carolina, to build his dream house and to pursue his high school sweetheart, Ava. But as he reenters his former world, where factories are in decline and the legacy of Jim Crow is still felt, he's startled to find that the people he once knew and loved have changed just as much as he has. Ava is now married and desperate for a baby, though she can't seem to carry one to term. Her husband, Henry, has grown distant, frustrated by the demise of the furniture industry, which has outsourced to China and stripped the area of jobs. Ava's mother, Sylvia, caters to and meddles with the lives of those around her, trying to fill the void left by her absent son. And Don, Sylvia's unworthy but charming husband, just won't stop hanging around.
JJ's return-and his plans to build a huge mansion overlooking Pinewood and woo Ava-not only unsettles their family, but stirs up the entire town. The ostentatious wealth that JJ has attained forces everyone to consider the cards they've been dealt, what more they want and deserve, and how they might go about getting it. Can they reorient their lives to align with their wishes rather than their current realities? Or are they all already resigned to the rhythms of the particular lives they lead?
No One Is Coming to Save Us
is a revelatory debut from an insightful voice: with echoes of The Great Gatsby it is an arresting and powerful novel about an extended African American family and their colliding visions of the American Dream. In evocative prose, Stephanie Powell Watts has crafted a full and stunning portrait that combines a universally resonant story with an intimate glimpse into the hearts of one family.
Editorial Reviews
02/20/2017
In her patient yet rich first novel, a Great Gatsby reboot, Watts (We Are Taking Only What We Need) digs deep into the wounds of a down-and-out African-American family in the contemporary South. Lone wolf J.J. Ferguson returns to economically depressed Pinewood, N.C., after 15 years to woo Ava, his high school crush, and build a hilltop mansion for all to envy. But the reunion is not what he bargained for. Ava, now married to Henry, a handsome but chronically miserable man with another family on the side, is a bored bank teller, at her wits’ end trying to get pregnant after three miscarriages (and searching for solace on mommies2b.com). Meanwhile Ava’s mother, Sylvia, is overweight, tired of being married to a perennial cheater, and filling the void by taking weekly phone calls from a 25-year-old prisoner she’s never met who reminds her of her son. The book takes a beat too long to find its rhythm, but when it does, it hits home—and hard. Watts powerfully depicts the struggles many Americans face trying to overcome life’s inevitable disappointments. But it’s the compassion she feels for her characters’ vulnerability and desires— J.J.’s belief that he and Ava can work, Ava’s ache for a family, Sylvia’s wish to be seen and loved—that make the story so relevant and memorable. (Apr.)
Watts writes about ordinary people leading ordinary lives with an extraordinary level of empathy and attention...The novel’s intricately plotted relationships pay off satisfyingly in its final chapters.” — New York Times Book Review
“Watts is so captivating a writer. She’s unusually deft with dialogue…[The novel is] conveyed in a prose style that renders the common language of casual speech into natural poetry, blending intimate conversation with the rhythms of gossip, town legend, even song lyrics...An indelible story.” — Washington Post
“Watts’s book envisions a backwoods African-American version of The Great Gatsby. The circumstances of her characters are vastly unlike Fitzgerald’s, and those differences are what make this novel so moving.” — Janet Maslin, New York Times
“Imagine The Great Gatsby, only set in the contemporary American South, and retold with black characters, rather than the lily-white Long Island set. Watts’ retelling is smart, unsettling, at times hilarious, and a wonderful update to this classic American novel.” — Nylon Magazine
“Watts’ lyrical writing and seamless floating between characters’ viewpoints make for a harmonious narrative chorus. This feels like an important, largely missing part of our ongoing American story. Ultimately, Watts offers a human tale of resilience and the universally understood drive to hang on and do whatever it takes to save oneself.” — Chicago Review of Books
“Watts’ lyrical writing and seamless floating between characters’ viewpoints make for a harmonious narrative chorus. This feels like an important, largely missing part of our ongoing American story. Ultimately, Watts offers a human tale of resilience and the universally understood drive to hang on and do whatever it takes to save oneself.” — Booklist
“Patient yet rich...Watts powerfully depicts the struggles many Americans face trying to overcome life’s inevitable disappointments. But it’s the compassion she feels for her characters’ vulnerability and desires...that make the story so relevant and memorable.” — Publishers Weekly
“Deeply evocative.” — W Magazine
“Inspired by The Great Gatsby, Watts loosely (masterfully, too) retells the American saga from the present day perspective of a once thriving African American community, breathing fresh life into a classic in a way that feels more essential, more moving than the original.” — Marie Claire
“A deep, moving read.” — Real Simple
“They say if you love something, you should set it free. Not so in Stephanie Powell Watts’ powerful debut novel...This timely novel sheds its green light on economic and emotional heartbreak and the spaces where the living meet the dead.” — Vanity Fair
“[Watts’] great gift is her instinct for empathy...No One is Coming to Save Us proves to be not just a pleasure on its own terms, but also a compassionate and well-timed social commentary, wherein people like us endeavor, falter, and finally endure.” — O, the Oprah Magazine
“Watts excels at physical descriptions that give texture to the world of the novel… In the best possible way, this is the kind of book that makes a reader yearn for her next one.” — Time
“Watts, with her knowing touch and full-bodied prose, delivers a resonant meditation on life and the comfort both in dreaming and in moving forward.” — USA Today
“The Great Gatsby migrates to the American South in Watts’ powerful novel.” — Entertainment Weekly
“The characters will draw you in...From their perspective, we’re given a story about what happens when the past refuses to remain where we’ve buried it.” — Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers
“ A strong story of hope and pain and longing...Watts excels at showing the dense relationships among characters as they strive for hope and reinvention...A memorable and moving tale.” — Dallas Morning News
“Watts winks at Gatsby while shining her literary light on black women...The American dream served with sweet tea, sympathy and deep insights.” — People
“The novel is infused with haunting lines about the persistence of the past and the danger of hope.” — Pittsburg Post-Gazette
“Wistful, eloquent, heartfelt and humane...[Watts] channels Toni Morrison’s masterful direct address with great success... The overwhelming power of this remarkable novel rests in its ability to face excruciating truths with optimism through its singing prose” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Brilliant, timely... The premise and plot are so clever... [Watts] has done something marvelous here, demonstrating that the truths illuminated in a classic American novel are just as powerful for black Americans.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“An arresting debut.” — Essence
“Terrific ... A timely, beautiful story that deserves a spot on the shelf next to F. Scott Fitzgerald.” — Minnesota Public Radio
“The Great Gatsby is revived in an accomplished debut novel...Watts spins a compelling tale of obsessive love and dashed dreams...Watts’ gently told story, like Fitzgerald’s, is only superficially about money but more acutely about the urgent, inexplicable needs that shape a life.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Stephanie Powell Watts’s inspired reimagining of the novel long regarded as the American masterwork of the twentieth century gives soul, body, and voice to those left out of Scott Fitzgerald’s vision of the American dream... bold, brilliant, and timely. It is just what contemporary American fiction needs.” — Sigrid Nunez, author of The Last of Her Kind and Sempre Susan
“A grand debut novel full of characters who come into a reader’s mind and heart and never leave. Stephanie Powell Watts is a writer of wondrous skill, imagination and sensitivity, and No One Is Coming to Save Us is a beautiful testament to that.” — Edward P. Jones
“Rich with wry and poignant observations on human nature, family, and black experience in America. A powerful-and, in today’s world, necessary -perspective on the American dream and the possibility of beginning again.” — Celeste Ng, author of Everything I Never Told You
“There is wisdom, vital and profound, on every single page of this novel. It’s a story about home — what it means to leave and whether you can return, and how it is people in the end who are its beating heart. Absolutely luminous.” — Cristina Henríquez, author of The Book of Unknown Americans
Watts writes about ordinary people leading ordinary lives with an extraordinary level of empathy and attention...The novel’s intricately plotted relationships pay off satisfyingly in its final chapters.
Inspired by The Great Gatsby, Watts loosely (masterfully, too) retells the American saga from the present day perspective of a once thriving African American community, breathing fresh life into a classic in a way that feels more essential, more moving than the original.
Watts’s book envisions a backwoods African-American version of The Great Gatsby. The circumstances of her characters are vastly unlike Fitzgerald’s, and those differences are what make this novel so moving.
Watts’ lyrical writing and seamless floating between characters’ viewpoints make for a harmonious narrative chorus. This feels like an important, largely missing part of our ongoing American story. Ultimately, Watts offers a human tale of resilience and the universally understood drive to hang on and do whatever it takes to save oneself.
Watts is so captivating a writer. She’s unusually deft with dialogue…[The novel is] conveyed in a prose style that renders the common language of casual speech into natural poetry, blending intimate conversation with the rhythms of gossip, town legend, even song lyrics...An indelible story.
Imagine The Great Gatsby, only set in the contemporary American South, and retold with black characters, rather than the lily-white Long Island set. Watts’ retelling is smart, unsettling, at times hilarious, and a wonderful update to this classic American novel.
A deep, moving read.
Watts’ lyrical writing and seamless floating between characters’ viewpoints make for a harmonious narrative chorus. This feels like an important, largely missing part of our ongoing American story. Ultimately, Watts offers a human tale of resilience and the universally understood drive to hang on and do whatever it takes to save oneself.
Deeply evocative.
There is wisdom, vital and profound, on every single page of this novel. It’s a story about home — what it means to leave and whether you can return, and how it is people in the end who are its beating heart. Absolutely luminous.
An arresting debut.
Watts excels at physical descriptions that give texture to the world of the novel… In the best possible way, this is the kind of book that makes a reader yearn for her next one.
[Watts’] great gift is her instinct for empathy...No One is Coming to Save Us proves to be not just a pleasure on its own terms, but also a compassionate and well-timed social commentary, wherein people like us endeavor, falter, and finally endure.
A strong story of hope and pain and longing...Watts excels at showing the dense relationships among characters as they strive for hope and reinvention...A memorable and moving tale.
They say if you love something, you should set it free. Not so in Stephanie Powell Watts’ powerful debut novel...This timely novel sheds its green light on economic and emotional heartbreak and the spaces where the living meet the dead.
Terrific ... A timely, beautiful story that deserves a spot on the shelf next to F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Rich with wry and poignant observations on human nature, family, and black experience in America. A powerful-and, in today’s world, necessary -perspective on the American dream and the possibility of beginning again.
The Great Gatsby migrates to the American South in Watts’ powerful novel.
Stephanie Powell Watts’s inspired reimagining of the novel long regarded as the American masterwork of the twentieth century gives soul, body, and voice to those left out of Scott Fitzgerald’s vision of the American dream... bold, brilliant, and timely. It is just what contemporary American fiction needs.
The characters will draw you in...From their perspective, we’re given a story about what happens when the past refuses to remain where we’ve buried it.
Wistful, eloquent, heartfelt and humane...[Watts] channels Toni Morrison’s masterful direct address with great success... The overwhelming power of this remarkable novel rests in its ability to face excruciating truths with optimism through its singing prose
Brilliant, timely... The premise and plot are so clever... [Watts] has done something marvelous here, demonstrating that the truths illuminated in a classic American novel are just as powerful for black Americans.
Watts winks at Gatsby while shining her literary light on black women...The American dream served with sweet tea, sympathy and deep insights.
A grand debut novel full of characters who come into a reader’s mind and heart and never leave. Stephanie Powell Watts is a writer of wondrous skill, imagination and sensitivity, and No One Is Coming to Save Us is a beautiful testament to that.
Watts, with her knowing touch and full-bodied prose, delivers a resonant meditation on life and the comfort both in dreaming and in moving forward.
The novel is infused with haunting lines about the persistence of the past and the danger of hope.
There is wisdom, vital and profound, on every single page of this novel. It’s a story about home — what it means to leave and whether you can return, and how it is people in the end who are its beating heart. Absolutely luminous.
Watts, with her knowing touch and full-bodied prose, delivers a resonant meditation on life and the comfort both in dreaming and in moving forward.
Watts excels at physical descriptions that give texture to the world of the novel… In the best possible way, this is the kind of book that makes a reader yearn for her next one.
Watts’ lyrical writing and seamless floating between characters’ viewpoints make for a harmonious narrative chorus. This feels like an important, largely missing part of our ongoing American story. Ultimately, Watts offers a human tale of resilience and the universally understood drive to hang on and do whatever it takes to save oneself.
Watts is so captivating a writer. She’s unusually deft with dialogue…[The novel is] conveyed in a prose style that renders the common language of casual speech into natural poetry, blending intimate conversation with the rhythms of gossip, town legend, even song lyrics...An indelible story.
An arresting debut.
[Watts’] great gift is her instinct for empathy...No One is Coming to Save Us proves to be not just a pleasure on its own terms, but also a compassionate and well-timed social commentary, wherein people like us endeavor, falter, and finally endure.
The characters will draw you in...From their perspective, we’re given a story about what happens when the past refuses to remain where we’ve buried it.
09/15/2017
As Sarah Jessica Parker's inaugural selection for the American Library Association's Book Club Central, Watts's (We Are Only Taking What We Need) first novel is getting well-earned attention. Initially inspired by The Great Gatsby, Watts wanted to give voice to the mostly silent African American characters in Fitzgerald's privileged world. Here, Jay becomes JJ, who's returned to Pinewood, NC—a town crippled by factory closings—as a wealthy man, determined to reconnect with his (Daisy-based) former sweetheart Ava. The obvious parallels end there, as Watts confidently crafts an original narrative starring troubled characters in search of connection and meaning. After multiple miscarriages, Ava's need for motherhood becomes obsessive. Her husband already has a secret child. Her mother, Sylvia, might have replaced her son with a convict she's never met but whose collect calls she regularly accepts. Ava's father is unsure whose bed to occupy. Narrator Janina Edwards's ability to cross generations, genders, and ages enhances Watts's family saga with spirit and vitality. Enlivened by Edwards's versatile performance, these Pinewood residents will each confront demanding decisions. VERDICT Given both the book's acclaim and popularity, libraries will want to offer multiple formats to eager audiences. ["Believable and gratifying": LJ 2/1/17 review of the Ecco: HarperCollins hc.]—Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC
02/01/2017
Set in rural North Carolina, Watts's first novel (after the award-winning short story collection We Are Taking Only What We Need) centers on the dynamics of a family struggling with strained relationships and disappointment. Sylvia carries on a phone relationship with Marcus, a prison inmate, to replace the distance between herself and her son, Devon. Ava, Sylvia's daughter, tries desperately to conceive a child and discovers a painful truth about her husband, Henry. JJ Ferguson, an old family friend, returns to town after many years away and causes disruption. Watts shares with us an often neglected segment of America—working and middle-class African Americans living in the current century—and all of the characters strive to find a balance between achieving what they want and settling for what life has dealt them. The many details of the Pinewood community ring true, particularly the contrast between the experiences of the older generation that remembers Jim Crow, and their children. VERDICT This quiet debut novel takes its time, much like the conversations among the various characters, which meander and loop around before reaching their point. The resolution is believable and gratifying without being pat. [See Prepub Alert, 10/24/16.]—Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis
Narrator Janina Edwards’s Southern accent and mature, commanding voice contrast markedly with the passivity of many characters in this novel. The miserable circumstances of one African-American family unfold through Edwards’s light drawl and varied tones indicating sarcasm, anxiety, and displaced desires. The “go along to get along” behavior of the older generation, reflected in certain characters like Sylvia, does not bode well for the younger generation, like Sylvia’s daughter, Ava, who has subconsciously lived out the phrase regardless. Edwards draws listeners in with inflections that might sting or soothe at different times. Getting to know the people of this small North Carolina town through her narration is worth the time and effort. T.E.C. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
★ 2016-12-27
The Great Gatsby is revived in an accomplished debut novel.Winner of a Pushcart Prize and other awards for her short fiction, Watts (We Are Taking Only What We Need, 2011) spins a compelling tale of obsessive love and dashed dreams set in a struggling North Carolina town. The furniture industry that once served as the major employer has shifted its factories to Asia, leaving former workers feeling unmoored and depressed. Even those who have jobs—Sylvia, who works for a social service agency, and her daughter Ava, a college graduate who has risen to loan officer in a bank—see that they have fallen far short of achieving the American dream. Watts creates tender, sympathetic portraits of her two main characters, women enveloped in grief: Sylvia's for her dead son, Ava's over her inability to conceive the child she desperately wants. Among the town's inhabitants, only JJ Ferguson seems to have succeeded: in the 15 years since he left Pinewood, he has become an enviably rich man. Suddenly, he has returned, and Sylvia wonders if he wants to show off, to prove that "someone like her, someone black, someone once poor, could come back to town and smash it underfoot." But revenge is not why JJ is building a mansion on the hill overlooking the town; he has come back for Ava, whom he has loved since they were children. JJ desires Ava with as much passion as Jay Gatsby felt for Daisy Buchanan. If he won Ava's heart, Sylvia realized, he "thought he could star in his own adventure, be the hero in his own story." That desire infects all of Watts' characters, who wish to star in their own stories, however modest. Sylvia simply wants to be a "known person," to feel "that she had been important to someone." That need compels her to form a relationship with a prisoner rejected by everyone else in his life. Ava's overwhelming need is to be a mother. Watts' gently told story, like Fitzgerald's, is only superficially about money but more acutely about the urgent, inexplicable needs that shape a life.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940170123940 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication date: | 04/04/2017 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 1,111,276 |
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