The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy

The Wilderness was not a book for the faint of heart or for those whose minds work in a linear fashion. Following the friendships of four women with distinct personalities through two and a half decades of their lives, the novel is craftily and creatively written. Flournoy is a master of that style and at times leaves the reader scratching his/her head. 

The first friend to whom we are introduced is Desiree, who is accompanying her grandfather to Switzerland because he has made plans to end his life in a dignified way. They spend a couple of days in Paris before the journey to Switzerland giving him a chance to live out some dreams before his death. Desiree has a sister, Danielle, who had been kept in the dark about those plans and as a physician was not pleased at all. 

The other friends are Nakia, who has climbed the ranks to become a chef with her own restaurant, January, who spends a good deal of her life trying to find some direcion and who becomes a graphic designer with a financial backgroud. Finally, there is Monique, a librarian who has turned blogger and who preaches against book banning. There are also myriad characters who come in and out of their lives.

The book's setting goes back and forth between New York and Los Angelos and the time periods span 2002 through 2027, an interesting look into the now not too distant future. The women support each other through life-changing highs and lows, and confront the changing world sometimes successfully and other times not. Flournoy does not hide her contempt for those who are not sympathetic to the conditions in American cities, medical care, or attitude toward the LGBTQ+ community or those whose skin color is black or brown.  

 Although those themes play out through the book, the theme of friendship is the paramount one Florunoy expounds upon. The women rally around through the birth of children, award ceremonies and marital relationships. The ending is totally unexpected as Flournoy moves her novel to 2027. It was worth re-reading to understand its compelling action. 

 It was interesting to hear Angela Flournoy on 23 March 2026 when she spoke to the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures audience. Her explanation of how her brain works and how she can write a book with so many shifts in time and place, was enlightening. It does baffle one whose mind travels along a more linear route. 

Angela Flournoy

 

Angela Flournoy autographing my book