Wait

“Burnham leaves little doubt about how much she understands the people who populate her novel… . Her compassion for them is evident—and, yes, that includes the affluent ones who come across as arrogant and snobbish… . There is no easy way out for any of them, but this tender novel allows us to rejoice when tiny windows of opportunities begin to open.”—Imbolo Mbue, The New York Times Book Review“Wait movingly tackles serious issues in one of America’s premier vacation spots. It is a commendable accomplishment.”—Heller McAlpin, NPR“Wait is beautiful, heartfelt, and transcendent—a carefully crafted portrayal of motherhood, sisterhood, and friendship put to the ultimate test. I found myself caring deeply about these characters and wanting to know desperately what was going to happen to them next. Wait is also the best account of year-round Nantucket Island that I’ve ever read.”—Nathaniel Philbrick, National Book Award–winning author of In the Heart of the Sea, Mayflower, and Travels with George “Wait is a limpid and lovely, powerful and affecting novel of family ties, sisterhood’s tender mercies, and the material conditions that shape our lives. Gabriella Burnham has given us a novel to remember, one that takes us to Nantucket and beyond—and we should gladly go.”—Sarah Thankam Mathews, National Book Award–nominated author of All This Could Be Different “Wise and richly layered, Wait is on one level a tender coming-of-age story set on the beautiful beaches of Nantucket, and on another a powerful inquiry into who gets to lay claim to American soil and call it home. Burnham’s nuanced exploration of friendship and sisterhood, inherited wealth and housing insecurity, birthright and disenfranchisement will stay with me. I could not put this book down and continued to think about it long after I emerged from its propulsive pages.”—Qian Julie Wang, author of Beautiful Country“Imbued with hope and loss, Wait is a stunning examination of homecoming and familial devotion. Burnham’s prose is sensuous and exacting. She writes about sisterhood, daughterhood, and friendship with deep wisdom and exquisite precision.”—Kayla Maiuri, author of Mother in the Dark“As I read this novel, I could almost feel the Nantucket sea breeze whipping against my face and, at other times, caressing me.”—Daphne Palasi Andreades, author of Brown Girls

Gabriella Burnham’s debut novel, It Is Wood, It Is Stone, was named a best book of the year by Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Publishers Weekly, and Good Housekeeping. She holds an MFA in creative writing from St. Joseph’s College and has been awarded fellowships to Yaddo and MacDowell, where she was named a Harris Center Fellow. Her nonfiction writing has appeared in Harper’s Bazaar. Burnham and her partner live in Brooklyn, New York, with their two rescue cats, Galleta and Franz.

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