The Furrows

Serpell’s (The Old Drift) haunting latest opens as Cassandra Williams remembers when she was 12, at the beach with her seven-year-old brother, Wayne. A sudden storm traps Wayne in the furrows between the waves. Cassandra swims out to rescue him but cannot save him. In the aftermath, her mother refuses to believe that Wayne is dead because there is no body, and despite years of therapy, Cassandra can’t let him go either. Cassandra sees Wayne everywhere—she reimagines his death, and even encounters a man with his name. Cassandra is emotionally and physically drawn to this man, who also had a traumatic childhood and has unspoken motives for keeping her on his radar. Narrators Kristen Ariza, Ryan Vincent Anderson, and Dion Graham give voice to Serpell’s complex characters, bringing out the fluid and unpredictable nature of time, grief, and love. Ariza narrates the part of Cassandra, while Graham takes over midway through to give voice to Wayne. Anderson narrates the part of a third character who introduces a shocking twist.