The furrows : an elegy : a novel / Namwali Serpell

Cassandra Williams is twelve, and her little brother Wayne is seven. One day, when they're alone together, an accident happens and Wayne is lost forever. Or so it seems. Though his body is never recovered, their mother, unable to give up hope, launches an organization dedicated to missing children. Their father simply leaves, starts another family somewhere else. As C grows older, she sees her brother everywhere: in coffee shops, airplane aisles, subways cars, cities on either coast. Here is her brother's older face, the light in his eyes, his lanky limbs, the way he seems to recognize her too. But it can't be, of course. Or can it? Disaster strikes again and C meets a man both mysterious and strangely familiar, a man who is also searching for someone, as well as his own place in the world. His name is Wayne.

English

The Carol Shields Prize for North American Women's Ficition - Longlist