Sorrowland is at its strongest when it inhabits the liminal spaces of Vern at her most self-contradictory. Vern is the most compelling character in the book, precocious but also emotionally and intellectually stunted the love she has for her children is real, but she also abandons them regularly when lured by the siren song of civilization. The opening section of the novel, in which Vern struggles to survive with her children and minimal contact with the outside world while being hunted by a psychological tormenter she refers to as “the fiend,” are singularly thrilling and literally haunting. Sorrowland follows Vern, an albino Black woman who escapes a cult leader and gives birth to twins she names Howling and Feral, who she lives with in the woods. I hope now that Solomon’s latest is a fluke, because there’s no elegant way to say it- Sorrowland is a strong story that devolves into an absolute mess, so overstuffed with underdeveloped themes, metaphors, and characters (who don’t behave anything like human beings) that it falls apart. I’m always on the lookout for books by authors who aren’t cishet white men, and given the rave reviews for Solomon’s debut An Unkindness of Ghosts, I was eagerly anticipating Sorrowland. I received an ARC of Sorrowland from Farrar, Straus and Giroux in exchange for an honest review.
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