Today, one of my most anticipated books this April comes out: Life and Other Love Songs by Anissa Gray. It follows a Black American family in the wake of a father and husband’s disappearance. What happened to him? How will his wife and daughter carry on in the years that follow?
Life and Other Love Songs looks like an intimate look at a fractured family, with mystery and drama in equal measure. Did this man disappear on purpose, or did something bad happen to him? What were the secrets he kept about himself? From 1970s Detroit to 1990s New York, how will his disappearance echo in the lives of the wife and daughter he left behind? I have so many questions, and this is a compelling book I’m eager to read.
Find out more about it below, and let me know if you’re planning to pick up Life and Other Love Songs. If you’ve already read it, let me know how you liked it in the comments! I’m hoping to read it soon, so stay tuned for my review.
Official Summary
A father’s sudden disappearance exposes the private fears, dreams, longings, and joys of a Black American family in the late decades of the twentieth century, in this page-turning and intimate new novel from the author of The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls.
It’s a warm, bright October afternoon, and Ozro Armstead walks out into the brilliant sunshine on his thirty-seventh birthday. At home, his wife Deborah and daughter Trinity prepare a surprise celebration; down the street, his brother waves as Oz heads back to his office after having lunch together.
But he won’t make it to the party or even to his briefcase back at his desk. He’s about to disappear.
In the days, months, and years to follow, Deborah and Trinity look backward and forward as they piece together the life of the man they love, but whom they come to realize they might never have truly known.
In a gripping narrative that moves from the Great Migration to 1970s Detroit and 1990s New York, we follow the hopes, triumphs, losses, and secrets that build up and tear apart an American family.
Get the Book
You can buy Life and Other Love Songs here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.
| Life and Other Love Songs by Author | |
|---|---|
| Audience | Adult |
| Genre | Women’s Fiction |
| Setting | Detroit; New York City |
| Number of Pages | 336 |
| Original Publication Date | April 11, 2023 |
About the Author
Credit: Bonnie J. Heath
Anissa Gray was born and raised in western Michigan. She is the author of the critically acclaimed 2019 novel The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls. Gray is also a journalist whose work has been featured in The Washington Post, CNN, The Cut and Shondaland. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her wife.
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Footnotes