Author: Jabari Asim
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?
Yonder: A Novel
If you are not satisfied with your purchase, you may return it for a refund. We will issue a refund for the purchase price of the item plus any applicable taxes to your original form of payment for items returned within 30 days. All returned items must be in their brand new, original condition; shrink-wrapped products must be unopened. Shipping fees are not refunded.
Please send an email to orders@dabookjoint.com for a return authorization number.
When do you ship? Orders are shipped Monday – Friday.
Where do you ship to? We ship domestically as well as internationally. If you have a question about shipments, please email orders@dabookjoint.com.
How do you ship? Most of our orders ship via USPS. We will also use UPS at your request. Since we do ship most of our orders via USPS, our website will only allow you to choose that as a shipping option. However, there is a comments box on the shipping selection screen where you can write in your desired shipping method. Small orders going to Canada and internationally will almost always be sent by USPS to help save on shipping cost and brokerage fees. Orders going to APO/FPO boxes will also be sent via USPS.
Rates to ship? We charge a flat rate for shipping of $3.50 per book. Any orders over $50 will ship for free.
How to track an order that's been shipped? If a tracking number is available and an email address was provided at the time of order, you will receive an automated email from either UPS or USPS with your tracking number once the order ships.
Are the items in stock? All items are normally held in stock. However, we may sometimes run out due to sudden demand, in which case we will notify you and inform you of the date we expect to receive more stock.
What are the lead times? We aim to ship orders within 2 working days for domestic orders and 4 working days for international orders. However, this may sometimes be longer due to other circumstances such as order volume and backorders.