The Travelers
Published on 4. July 2019
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-1-78733-100-6 (ISBN)
Description
When the boy was four, he asked his father why people needed sleep. His father said, 'So God could unfuck all the things people fuck up.'
*LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2020*
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE MCKITTERICK PRIZE 2020*
As America recovers from the Second World War, two families' journeys begin. James Vincent, born in 1942 to an Irish-American family, escapes his parents' turbulent marriage and attends law school in New York, where he moves up the social ladder as a prosperous and bright attorney. Meanwhile, Agnes Miller, a beautiful black woman on date with a handsome suitor, is pulled over by the police on a rural road in Georgia. The terrible moments that follow make her question her future and pivot her into a hasty marriage and new life in the Bronx.
Illuminating more than six decades of sweeping change - from the struggle for civil rights and the chaos of Vietnam to Obama's first year as President - James and Agnes's families will come together in unexpected, intimate and profoundly human ways.
Romantic and defiant, humorous and intellectually daring, Regina Porter brilliantly explores how race, gender and class collide in modern-day America - and charts the mishaps and adventures we often take to get closer to ourselves and to home.
*LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2020*
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE MCKITTERICK PRIZE 2020*
As America recovers from the Second World War, two families' journeys begin. James Vincent, born in 1942 to an Irish-American family, escapes his parents' turbulent marriage and attends law school in New York, where he moves up the social ladder as a prosperous and bright attorney. Meanwhile, Agnes Miller, a beautiful black woman on date with a handsome suitor, is pulled over by the police on a rural road in Georgia. The terrible moments that follow make her question her future and pivot her into a hasty marriage and new life in the Bronx.
Illuminating more than six decades of sweeping change - from the struggle for civil rights and the chaos of Vietnam to Obama's first year as President - James and Agnes's families will come together in unexpected, intimate and profoundly human ways.
Romantic and defiant, humorous and intellectually daring, Regina Porter brilliantly explores how race, gender and class collide in modern-day America - and charts the mishaps and adventures we often take to get closer to ourselves and to home.
Reviews / Votes
The Travelers is a rare debut that heralds what should be a long and promising career. * Times Literary Supplement * An astoundingly audacious debut. * Oprah Magazine * Regina Porter's sprawling, sparkling debut novel... is an exhilarating ride. Porter is a wickedly astute chronicler of human foibles. In her hands, this series of glimpses feels something like life itself. * Guardian * Spanning six decades and three continents...[The Travelers] is held together by an elegant web of connections... Porter has a striking habit of telescoping time to chart individual trajectories... The often breathtaking immediacy and assurance of Porter's prose carries you through. * Daily Mail * If you're looking for a poetic, spare, sometimes funny tale of ordinary people pining for meaningful connections - or if you're someone who wishes Raymond Carver had published a novel - you have arrived. * New York Times * This kaleidoscopic debut novel... deftly skips back and forth through the decades, sometimes summarizing a life in a few paragraphs, sometimes spending pages on one conversation. As one character observes, "We move in circles in this life." * New Yorker * [A] remarkable debut novel... There is a confidence to Porter's writing that makes it hard to believe that this is her first novel... The Travelers succeeds because Porter is so clear-eyed when documenting human interactions, the mass of particularities amounting to a gloriously and depressingly messy picture of life in America. * Literary Review * American history comes to vivid, engaging life in this tale of two interconnected families (one white, one black)... the complex, beautifully drawn characters are unique and indelible. * Entertainment Weekly * A sprawling, ambitious debut ... Beautifully written and intricately plotted. * Kirkus * An absolute wonder of a novel. A sweeping examination of race and class within America's troubled history. A love letter to fearless women laced with a sharp humour. I'm thrilled by the magnitude, ingenuity and heart of Regina Porter's daring vision.More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
536 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78733-100-6 (9781787331006)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Regina Porter is an award-winning playwright and a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow. She was born in Savannah, Georgia and lives in Brooklyn. The Travelers is her first novel.