The Turner House (Paperback)
May 2015 Indie Next List
“The greatest testament to the skill of a writer is the ability to make what might seem alien to the reader completely recognizable and utterly engaging. Such was my experience reading The Turner House. Mine is a tiny white family from a small town with no sense of heritage, yet every moment I spent with the Turners -- a family of 13 children shaped by the Great Migration to Detroit -- I felt at home. Their struggles and joys are universal, yet told with an exacting eye that always finds the perfect detail. This is a truly impressive debut.”
— Kim Fox (M), Schuler Books & Music, Grand Rapids, MI
Description
“Flournoy’s knockout debut is one of those books that should, by rights, be described as the Great American Novel.” — NPR
A New York Times Notable Book
Named a Best Book of the Year byO, The Oprah Magazine * Entertainment Weekly * NPR * Essence * Men’s Journal * Buzzfeed * Bustle * Time Out * Denver Post * Publishers Weekly * Kirkus Reviews * BookPage * Literary Hub * Kobo * The Week
“A page-turner. Richly wrought prose and intimate, vivid dialogue. A–.” — Entertainment Weekly
For over fifty years the Turners have lived on Yarrow Street. Their house has seen thirteen children get grown and gone—and some return; it has seen the arrival of grandchildren, the fall of Detroit’s East Side, and the loss of a father. But when their powerful mother falls ill, the Turners are called home to decide their house’s fate and to reckon with how their past haunts—and shapes—their future. The Turner House is a striking examination of the price we pay for our dreams, and the ways in which our families bring us home.
“An epic that feels deeply personal . . . Flournoy’s finely tuned empathy infuses her characters with a radiant humanity.” — O, The Oprah Magazine
“In this assured and memorable novel, [Flournoy] provides the feeling of knowing a family from the inside out, as we would wish to know our own.” — New York Times Book Review
About the Author
ANGELA FLOURNOY is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the University of Southern California. Her fiction has appeared in the Paris Review, and she has written for the New Republic, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and other publications. She has taught writing at the University of Iowa and Trinity Washington University. She was raised by a mother from Los Angeles and a father from Detroit.
Praise For…
National Book Award Finalist Nominated for the NAACP Image Awards, "Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author" Short-listed for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction Nominated for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards, Fiction One of the National Book Foundation’s "5 Under 35" Short-listed for the 2015 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Finalist for the 2016 New York Public Library Young Lions Award Winner of the 2016 Paterson Fiction Prize Finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist ?Award Short-listed for the Ernest Gaines Award Short-listed for The Morning News 2016 Tournament of Books Long-listed for the NBCC John Leonard Prize for A Debut Novel Long-listed for the 2016 Chautauqua Prize ?Nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award 2017 An Amazon Top 100 Editors' Pick of the Year A New York Times Notable Book of 2015 A New York Times Editors' Choice New York Times Paperback Row Short-listed for the Winter 2015 Lariat List Short-listed for the Medici Book Club Prize A Michigan Notable Book 2016 Black Caucus of the ALA—1st Novelist Award Winner Finalist for the 2016 Indies Choice Awards One of O, The Oprah Magazine's "10 Favorite Books of the Year" One of Entertainment Weekly's "10 Best Books of 2015" An NPR "Best Book of 2015" One of Buzzfeed's "The 24 Best Fiction Books of 2015" One of Bustle's "2015’s 25 Best Books, Fiction Edition" A Publishers Weekly "Best Book of 2015" A Kirkus "Best Fiction Books of 2015" An Essence's "Best Books of 2015" A Time Out New York "Best Book of 2015" A Detroit Free Press "Must-read novel of 2015" A Literary Hub "Best Book of 2015" One of Men’s Journal’s “The 35 Best Books of 2015” One of the The Week's "Best Fiction Books of 2015" A Denver Post “Best Fiction Book of 2015” One of BookPage's "Best Books of 2015" A Kobo.com "Must-Read Fiction Debut of 2015" BAM Top Pick for Spring 2015 May 2015 Indie Next Title One of Literati Bookstore's "Best Books of 2015" Morning Sun Bestseller “An engrossing and remarkably mature first novel...Flournoy’s prose is artful without being showy. She takes the time to flesh out the world...In her accretion of resonant details, Flournoy recounts the history of Detroit with more sensitivity than any textbook could...Flournoy gets at the universal through the patient observation of one family’s particulars. In this assured and memorable novel, she provides the feeling of knowing a family from the inside out, as we would wish to know our own.”—New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice "The Turner House speeds along like a page-turner. Flournoy’s richly wrought prose and intimate, vivid dialogue make this novel feel like settling deeply into the family armchair."—Entertainment Weekly (Grade: A-) “Flournoy has written an epic that feels deeply personal...Flournoy’s finely tuned empathy infuses her characters with a radiant humanity.”—O, The Oprah Magazine —