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

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.

BIO

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.

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

[H]  Algonquin Books  /  December 03, 2024

1.1" H x 9.0" L x 6.3" W (1.19 lbs) 288 pages