The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders is a terrific novel. Aubrey Lamb is a young woman in a painful state. Her long-term (and affluent, and Caucasian) boyfriend, whom she expects to propose marriage, dumps her instead. One last excellent restaurant meal; now get your stuff out of my apartment. At about the same time, her beloved father dies, and since her mother was already gone, Shannon is lonely and rudderless. But she learns she’s inherited a share of a farm in Tennessee, and in seeing it, meeting other relatives there, and deciding what to do with her portion, Shannon learns a tremendous amount about who she is. Sanders’s lucky readers get to go with her, flies on the wall all of us.

My thanks go to NetGalley and Henry Holt for the review copy. I came late to the party, after the book’s publication day, but several of my Goodreads friends raved about this novel, and I had to dive in anyway. This book is for sale now.

A short way into the story, the narrator, who was unremarkable up to this point, starts speaking in the second person. I am intrigued! I knew there would be some references to the afterlife, but the way this is executed is unlike any other book I’ve read. As the narrative unspools, we are treated to parallel tales about Shannon’s ancestors and the way their experiences have shaped her grandparents, her father, and ultimately, Shannon herself. She goes to the farm in question hoping that she can sell her share and make some money fast; she certainly needs it. But she comes away richer in other ways.

I’m being deliberately vague, because the less the reader knows in advance, the more wonderful the surprises will be as they are revealed. In fact, I would advise those that haven’t already done so to avoid the promotional synopsis and go into it blind.

I will say this, however: although The Great Wherever does have an intricate—but never confusing—plot that is well planned and executed, it is ultimately the characters that make this story pop.

I heartily recommend this book to those that love excellent historical fiction; African-American stories; or expertly crafted fiction that goes deep into character.