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Description
“If Tom Wolfe, Jay McInerney, and Margo Jefferson somehow collaborated, this might have been the delightful result.” —Boris Kachka, The Atlantic
“Incandescent…full of sentences I want to cut out and glue to my forehead.” —Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author of Martyr!
“A masterpiece…At once fresh and original while delighting the reader with hints of Franzen, McInerny, Baldwin. This novel—a whodunit, a coming-of-age, a New York novel—heralds the arrival of a rarefied talent.” —Elin Hilderbrand, bestselling author of Swan Song
A gripping, elegant debut novel about a young Black man caught between worlds of race and class, glamour and tragedy, a friend’s mysterious death and his own arrest, from an electrifying new voice.
An arrest for cocaine possession on the last day of a sweltering New York summer leaves Smith, a queer Black Stanford graduate, in a state of turmoil. Pulled into the court system and mandated treatment, he finds himself in an absurd but dangerous situation: his class protects him, but his race does not.
It’s just weeks after the death of his beloved roommate Elle, the daughter of a famous soul singer, and he’s still reeling from the tabloid spectacle—as well as lingering questions around how well he really knew his closest friend. He flees to his hometown of Atlanta, only to buckle under the weight of expectations from his family of doctors and lawyers and their history in America. But when Smith returns to New York, it’s not long before he begins to lose himself to his old life—drawn back into the city’s underworld, where his search for answers may end up costing him his freedom and his future.
Smith goes on a dizzying journey through the nightlife circuit, anonymous recovery rooms, Atlanta’s Black society set, police investigations and courtroom dramas, and a circle of friends coming of age in a new era. Great Black Hope is a propulsive, glittering story about what it means to exist between worlds, to be upwardly mobile yet spiraling downward, and how to find a way back to hope.
“Incandescent…full of sentences I want to cut out and glue to my forehead.” —Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author of Martyr!
“A masterpiece…At once fresh and original while delighting the reader with hints of Franzen, McInerny, Baldwin. This novel—a whodunit, a coming-of-age, a New York novel—heralds the arrival of a rarefied talent.” —Elin Hilderbrand, bestselling author of Swan Song
A gripping, elegant debut novel about a young Black man caught between worlds of race and class, glamour and tragedy, a friend’s mysterious death and his own arrest, from an electrifying new voice.
An arrest for cocaine possession on the last day of a sweltering New York summer leaves Smith, a queer Black Stanford graduate, in a state of turmoil. Pulled into the court system and mandated treatment, he finds himself in an absurd but dangerous situation: his class protects him, but his race does not.
It’s just weeks after the death of his beloved roommate Elle, the daughter of a famous soul singer, and he’s still reeling from the tabloid spectacle—as well as lingering questions around how well he really knew his closest friend. He flees to his hometown of Atlanta, only to buckle under the weight of expectations from his family of doctors and lawyers and their history in America. But when Smith returns to New York, it’s not long before he begins to lose himself to his old life—drawn back into the city’s underworld, where his search for answers may end up costing him his freedom and his future.
Smith goes on a dizzying journey through the nightlife circuit, anonymous recovery rooms, Atlanta’s Black society set, police investigations and courtroom dramas, and a circle of friends coming of age in a new era. Great Black Hope is a propulsive, glittering story about what it means to exist between worlds, to be upwardly mobile yet spiraling downward, and how to find a way back to hope.
Product Details
| Publisher | S&S/Summit Books |
| Publish Date | June 10, 2025 |
| Pages | 320 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781668077436 |
| Dimensions | 228.6 X 152.4 X 30.5 mm | 469.5 g |
About the Author
Born and raised in Atlanta, Rob Franklin is a writer of fiction and poetry, and a cofounder of Art for Black Lives. A Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and finalist for the New England Review Emerging Writer Award, he has published work in New England Review, Prairie Schooner, and The Rumpus among others. Franklin lives in Brooklyn, New York, and teaches writing at the School of Visual Arts. Great Black Hope is his first novel.
Reviews
"If Tom Wolfe, Jay McInerney, and Margo Jefferson somehow collaborated, this might have been the delightful result." —Boris Kachka, The Atlantic
"Dazzling...exquisite....Think Bonfire of the Vanities meets Bright Lights, Big City." —Suzanne Vanatten, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“A debut that shouts its arrival and a novel that thrills while making you think. Artful and transporting…a book I couldn’t wait to get lost in…compulsive.” —Carole V. Bell, NPR.org
“With lush evocations of the world of wealth and cutting observations about the people who inhabit it, Franklin’s debut is a tour de force.”—Charley Burlock, Oprah Daily (Best Summer Reads of 2025)
“It’s thrilling to see any author today aiming for the big stuff all at once: death, race, sex, class, addiction. It’s beyond thrilling—incandescent, even—when a writer like Rob Franklin comes along with the formal virtuosity to carry those lofty conceptual ambitions. Franklin’s prose is eminently readable, frequently laugh-out-loud funny, and full of sentences I want to cut out and glue to my forehead. This book is so smart, so moving, so earned; as soon as I finished, I started reading it again.” —Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author of Martyr!
“Rob Franklin’s debut novel, Great Black Hope, is a masterpiece– at once fresh and original while delighting the reader with hints of Franzen, McInerney, Baldwin. The specificity of the language is like fine lacework, a beauty to behold. This novel – a whodunit, a coming-of-age, a New York novel – heralds the arrival of a rarefied talent. Wow wow wow.” —Elin Hilderbrand, author of Swan Song
"Great Black Hope is at once a novel of crime—with a gripping pace, propelled by a question that needs answering—and a timeless coming of age story." —Rumaan Alam, author of Entitlement
“A beautifully expansive novel about race and class…Franklin’s emotional and intellectual range is vast…. An exceptional debut.” —Katie Kitamura, author of Audition and Intimacies
“The music of Rob Franklin’s writing is so seductive, you won’t even notice the shiv until it’s too late.” —Saeed Jones, author of Alive at the End of the World
“Great Black Hope indeed! Rob Franklin’s brilliant storytelling explores and explodes every fact and fiction of those charged words; likewise, the intricacies and treacheries of privilege. Those categories we parse so confidently — class, race, gender sexuality — are shaped into nuanced individual stories. His prose is elegant and searching, his pace flawless from start to finish.” —Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland
“This searing debut has everything you could ever want from a gripping summer read: a missing person, a drug scandal and a group of privileged New Yorkers on a climactic sojourn in the Hamptons. Yet it is also a brilliant and insightful novel about the fascinating intersections of race and class – how economic privilege cannot shield you from the most awful consequences of prejudice. This will prove a rude awakening for our protagonist Smith, who, over one fateful night, will be sent on a life-changing course direction.” — Harper’s Bazaar UK
“Smart, scintillating… Subjects that might make for solemn reading are rendered thoroughly absorbing by the author’s radiant prose and razor-sharp observations. A captivating novel of dissolution and redemption.” — Kirkus (Starred Review)
“Rob Franklin’s prose is rich, mesmerizing, and utterly gorgeous. Through each remarkable sentence, Franklin takes you through a meditation on one Black queer man's struggle with the confinement of his choices under the magnifying glass of wealthy America.” —Leila Mottley, author of Nightcrawling
“What a marvel to discover a voice so authentic, urgent, and undeniable. GREAT BLACK HOPE is a rare thing: a coming-of-age novel that examines the individual as well as the complex systems that shape his life. An intensely intimate yet expansive work of art.” —Tania James, author of Loot
"The precision and ecstasy of Rob Franklin's prose had me entranced. Great Black Hope marks the arrival of a breathtakingly talented writer." —Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning
“For those who enjoy gritty realism and gorgeous writing.” — Toni Fitzgerald, Forbes (25 Must-Read Books To Add To Your 2025 Summer List)
“A big debut that announces the arrival of a major new talent and lives up to the hype.”
—The Maris Review by Maris Kreizman
“Dynamic and excellent….Smith is a character worth spending time with, full of pathos and insightful
observations as he lives through his wayward twenties….Franklin deftly develops his characters, vividly rendering their perceptions and bringing the reader into the scene through elegant prose." —Allison Escoto, Booklist
“Radiant…readers will be rapt." —Publishers Weekly
"Dazzling...exquisite....Think Bonfire of the Vanities meets Bright Lights, Big City." —Suzanne Vanatten, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“A debut that shouts its arrival and a novel that thrills while making you think. Artful and transporting…a book I couldn’t wait to get lost in…compulsive.” —Carole V. Bell, NPR.org
“With lush evocations of the world of wealth and cutting observations about the people who inhabit it, Franklin’s debut is a tour de force.”—Charley Burlock, Oprah Daily (Best Summer Reads of 2025)
“It’s thrilling to see any author today aiming for the big stuff all at once: death, race, sex, class, addiction. It’s beyond thrilling—incandescent, even—when a writer like Rob Franklin comes along with the formal virtuosity to carry those lofty conceptual ambitions. Franklin’s prose is eminently readable, frequently laugh-out-loud funny, and full of sentences I want to cut out and glue to my forehead. This book is so smart, so moving, so earned; as soon as I finished, I started reading it again.” —Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author of Martyr!
“Rob Franklin’s debut novel, Great Black Hope, is a masterpiece– at once fresh and original while delighting the reader with hints of Franzen, McInerney, Baldwin. The specificity of the language is like fine lacework, a beauty to behold. This novel – a whodunit, a coming-of-age, a New York novel – heralds the arrival of a rarefied talent. Wow wow wow.” —Elin Hilderbrand, author of Swan Song
"Great Black Hope is at once a novel of crime—with a gripping pace, propelled by a question that needs answering—and a timeless coming of age story." —Rumaan Alam, author of Entitlement
“A beautifully expansive novel about race and class…Franklin’s emotional and intellectual range is vast…. An exceptional debut.” —Katie Kitamura, author of Audition and Intimacies
“The music of Rob Franklin’s writing is so seductive, you won’t even notice the shiv until it’s too late.” —Saeed Jones, author of Alive at the End of the World
“Great Black Hope indeed! Rob Franklin’s brilliant storytelling explores and explodes every fact and fiction of those charged words; likewise, the intricacies and treacheries of privilege. Those categories we parse so confidently — class, race, gender sexuality — are shaped into nuanced individual stories. His prose is elegant and searching, his pace flawless from start to finish.” —Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland
“This searing debut has everything you could ever want from a gripping summer read: a missing person, a drug scandal and a group of privileged New Yorkers on a climactic sojourn in the Hamptons. Yet it is also a brilliant and insightful novel about the fascinating intersections of race and class – how economic privilege cannot shield you from the most awful consequences of prejudice. This will prove a rude awakening for our protagonist Smith, who, over one fateful night, will be sent on a life-changing course direction.” — Harper’s Bazaar UK
“Smart, scintillating… Subjects that might make for solemn reading are rendered thoroughly absorbing by the author’s radiant prose and razor-sharp observations. A captivating novel of dissolution and redemption.” — Kirkus (Starred Review)
“Rob Franklin’s prose is rich, mesmerizing, and utterly gorgeous. Through each remarkable sentence, Franklin takes you through a meditation on one Black queer man's struggle with the confinement of his choices under the magnifying glass of wealthy America.” —Leila Mottley, author of Nightcrawling
“What a marvel to discover a voice so authentic, urgent, and undeniable. GREAT BLACK HOPE is a rare thing: a coming-of-age novel that examines the individual as well as the complex systems that shape his life. An intensely intimate yet expansive work of art.” —Tania James, author of Loot
"The precision and ecstasy of Rob Franklin's prose had me entranced. Great Black Hope marks the arrival of a breathtakingly talented writer." —Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning
“For those who enjoy gritty realism and gorgeous writing.” — Toni Fitzgerald, Forbes (25 Must-Read Books To Add To Your 2025 Summer List)
“A big debut that announces the arrival of a major new talent and lives up to the hype.”
—The Maris Review by Maris Kreizman
“Dynamic and excellent….Smith is a character worth spending time with, full of pathos and insightful
observations as he lives through his wayward twenties….Franklin deftly develops his characters, vividly rendering their perceptions and bringing the reader into the scene through elegant prose." —Allison Escoto, Booklist
“Radiant…readers will be rapt." —Publishers Weekly
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