The Days of Afrekete

A Best Book of October: TIME, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ms.
A Most Anticipated Book of 2021: The Millions, Lit Hub
A Most Anticipated Book of the Fall: Vulture, The Boston Globe

"[The Days of Afrekete] is a feat of engineering. It's also a reverie, a riff on Mrs. Dalloway and a love story. In Liselle, Solomon has invented a character who comes to the mind's eye in HD, with anxieties, jokes, memories, furies and survival instincts all present in prose as clear as water."
--Molly Young, The New York Times

"Stunning."
--Bethanne Patrick, The Washington Post

"Searing."
--Annabel Gutterman, TIME

"A taut study of doubleness and marital ruin that kept me up all night. Solomon is precise and tender, even as she deals with lurid, human sins and the terror of critical mass--that it is inevitable, and that despite our need to travel backward, it cannot be undone."
--Raven Leilani, The Guardian

"The Days of Afrekete . . . intertwines a biting satire of upper-middle-class mores with a wistful love story . . . Ms. Solomon lands some excellent blows."
--Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

"Tense, affecting, and slyly funny."
--Patrick Rapa, The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Fresh and funny, offering reflections on friendships, choices and how the past truly shapes the future."
--Karla Strand, Ms.

"The Days of Afrekete is so elegant and fresh, so sophisticated and modern, I didn't feel like I was reading this novel--I felt like I was living it. I loved every minute."
--Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House

"With both a precise focus on a single day and the range to cover decades, The Days of Afrekete beautifully captures what it feels like to find yourself going through the motions of a life that used to pulse with color, wondering what you traded for survival or success. Asali Solomon illuminates what it means to grow away from what felt like the truest version of yourself, what the way back might look like, what Black women in particular are asked to give up, and what it might mean to refuse. Solomon is a treasure: wise, hilarious, and full of poignant insight."
--Danielle Evans, author of The Office of Historical Corrections

"The Days of Afrekete is a subtle, unique novel about the power of feeling between young women, and how even seemingly ephemeral relationships can affect a life across decades of personal and social change. It is a haunting and redemptive story."
--Mary Gaitskill, author of This is Pleasure

"The Days of Afrekete is one of the most enjoyable novels I've read in a long time. Asali Solomon is a wickedly astute observer of the human condition, alert to all our weaknesses and absurdities, as well as our occasional moments of transcendence. The clarity of her vision is sometimes unsettling, but it's always revelatory."
--Tom Perrotta, author of Mrs. Fletcher

"Solomon echoes the deep feminine bonds at the center of novels like Nella Larsen's Passing and Toni Morrison's Sula to reveal how the erotics of our past lives shape our futures even when we think the desire is long gone."
--Omari Weekes, Vulture

"[Asali Solomon is] in a lineage of modernist party hosts like Woolf and Proust. What starts out a smoothly entertaining social satire turns out to expect a little work from you, dear reader."
--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Centered on Liselle Belmont, in a marriage of convenience that begins to unravel amid political scandal, this tender novel explores Liselle's rediscovery of herself and her former college lover."
--Joshunda Sanders, The Boston Globe

"Illuminating . . . Solomon brings wit and incisive commentary to this pristine take on two characters' fascinating and painful lives."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Solomon charts the social and cultural geography of her native Philadelphia with clear-eyed affection, and gives each woman character a full-throated voice. Unforgettable."
--Lesley Williams, Booklist, starred review

"Astonishing . . . Such a beautiful, strange, funny, moving book . . . It defies description."
--Elizabeth McCracken, author of The Souvenir Museum (on Twitter)

"Outstanding . . . Incredibly intimate and yet expansive."
--Porochista Khakpour, Bookforum

"This funny and engaging book kept me up well into the midnight hour. The characters are a riot--the kind I'd want to be at a barbecue with and whose lives are so palpable and interesting, they would definitely be my favorite aunts! This is no midlife crisis--it's life! Asali Solomon paints beautiful, imperfect, and unforgettable characters everyone will be able to relate to in so many ways."
--Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Patsy

"Asali Solomon--who should be a household name--may become one with The Days of Afrekete, a masterwork that shines a spotlight on what is troubling, uncomfortable, and hilariously funny about our present moment in time. There are few writers working today who are as precise with language, as perceptive, and--only when she wants to be--as moving as Solomon. This concise novel, which seems at first like a blistering send-up of an upper-middle-class dinner party, expands into strangeness and beauty and a meditation on the meaning of life. I won't forget it."
--Liz Moore, author of Long Bright River

A Best Book of the Year: New York
A Best Book of October: TIME, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ms.
A Most Anticipated Book of 2021: The Millions, Lit Hub
A Most Anticipated Book of the Fall: New York, The Boston Globe

"[The Days of Afrekete] is a feat of engineering. It's also a reverie, a riff on Mrs. Dalloway and a love story. In Liselle, Solomon has invented a character who comes to the mind's eye in HD, with anxieties, jokes, memories, furies and survival instincts all present in prose as clear as water."
--Molly Young, The New York Times

"Stunning."
--Bethanne Patrick, The Washington Post

"Searing."
--Annabel Gutterman, TIME

"A taut study of doubleness and marital ruin that kept me up all night. Solomon is precise and tender, even as she deals with lurid, human sins and the terror of critical mass--that it is inevitable, and that despite our need to travel backward, it cannot be undone."
--Raven Leilani, The Guardian

"A biting satire of upper-middle-class mores with a wistful love story."
--Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

"Short, sharp . . . poignant yet often bitingly funny . . . [and] observed and in shrewd detail."
--Wendy Smith, The Washington Post

"Tense, affecting, and slyly funny."
--Patrick Rapa, The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Fresh and funny, offering reflections on friendships, choices and how the past truly shapes the future."
--Karla Strand, Ms.

"The Days of Afrekete is so elegant and fresh, so sophisticated and modern, I didn't feel like I was reading this novel--I felt like I was living it. I loved every minute."
--Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House

"With both a precise focus on a single day and the range to cover decades, The Days of Afrekete beautifully captures what it feels like to find yourself going through the motions of a life that used to pulse with color, wondering what you traded for survival or success. Asali Solomon illuminates what it means to grow away from what felt like the truest version of yourself, what the way back might look like, what Black women in particular are asked to give up, and what it might mean to refuse. Solomon is a treasure: wise, hilarious, and full of poignant insight."
--Danielle Evans, author of The Office of Historical Corrections

"The Days of Afrekete is a subtle, unique novel about the power of feeling between young women, and how even seemingly ephemeral relationships can affect a life across decades of personal and social change. It is a haunting and redemptive story."
--Mary Gaitskill, author of This is Pleasure

"The Days of Afrekete is one of the most enjoyable novels I've read in a long time. Asali Solomon is a wickedly astute observer of the human condition, alert to all our weaknesses and absurdities, as well as our occasional moments of transcendence. The clarity of her vision is sometimes unsettling, but it's always revelatory."
--Tom Perrotta, author of Mrs. Fletcher

"Solomon echoes the deep feminine bonds at the center of novels like Nella Larsen's Passing and Toni Morrison's Sula to reveal how the erotics of our past lives shape our futures even when we think the desire is long gone."
--Omari Weekes, Vulture

"[Asali Solomon is] in a lineage of modernist party hosts like Woolf and Proust. What starts out a smoothly entertaining social satire turns out to expect a little work from you, dear reader."
--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Centered on Liselle Belmont, in a marriage of convenience that begins to unravel amid political scandal, this tender novel explores Liselle's rediscovery of herself and her former college lover."
--Joshunda Sanders, The Boston Globe

"Illuminating . . . Solomon brings wit and incisive commentary to this pristine take on two characters' fascinating and painful lives."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Solomon charts the social and cultural geography of her native Philadelphia with clear-eyed affection, and gives each woman character a full-throated voice. Unforgettable."
--Lesley Williams, Booklist, starred review

"Astonishing . . . Such a beautiful, strange, funny, moving book . . . It defies description."
--Elizabeth McCracken, author of The Souvenir Museum (on Twitter)

"Outstanding . . . Incredibly intimate and yet expansive."
--Porochista Khakpour, Bookforum

"This funny and engaging book kept me up well into the midnight hour. The characters are a riot--the kind I'd want to be at a barbecue with and whose lives are so palpable and interesting, they would definitely be my favorite aunts! This is no midlife crisis--it's life! Asali Solomon paints beautiful, imperfect, and unforgettable characters everyone will be able to relate to in so many ways."
--Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Patsy