Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams

In three parts, McWilliams ( Doormat) follows faithful Agnes and her doubting 15-year-old sister, Beth. When a viral pandemic encroaches, Agnes uncovers an aural realm long forgotten.

Devout though she is, Agnes secretly seeks outside help to save her brother, who has type 1 diabetes, and she experiences doubt when faced with an arranged marriage and her outsider mother’s pleas that she run away. Adhering to the belief that “perfect obedience produces perfect faith,” she and her siblings have been taught by Red Creek’s prophet that women are inferior to men and that outsiders are not Harriet's sure she can change the hearts of Layla and her mother, but she underestimates the scale of the challenge…and when her school announces that prom will be held on the plantation, Harriet’s just about had it with this whole racist timeline! Overwhelmed by grief and anger, it’s fair to say she snaps.The Red Creek compound is the only life Agnes, 16, has known. Harriet’s fully prepared to hate Layla Hartwell, but it seems that Layla might not be so bad after all-unlike many people, this California influencer is actually interested in Harriet's point of view. Harriet's world is turned upside down by the arrival of mother and daughter Claudia and Layla Hartwell-who plan to turn the property next door into a wedding venue, and host the offensively antebellum-themed wedding of two Hollywood stars. Together, while grieving the recent loss of Harriet’s mother, they run tours that help keep the memory of the past alive.

Harriet Douglass lives with her historian father on an old plantation in Louisiana, which they’ve transformed into one of the South's few enslaved people’s museums. This sharp-witted, timely novel explores cancel culture, anger, and grief, and challenges the romanticization of America's racist past with humor and heart-for readers of Dear Martin by Nic Stone and Grown by Tiffany D.

★ “ McWilliams stuns with this well-told, honest story that peels apart the legacy of slavery to examine the undeniable connection from past horrors and trauma to present oppression and violence, in obvious and less obvious forms.”

Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams