It is a watchful celebration of our choices and where they take us, the people who change us, and how we can reimagine ourselves even when our lives seem set. Dalloway and Sula, as well as Audre Lorde’s Zami, Asali Solomon’s The Days of Afrekete is a deft, expertly layered, naturally funny, and deeply human examination of two women coming back to themselves at midlife. But as the day wears on, memories of Liselle begin to shift Selena’s path. But they’ve lost touch, so much so that when they ran into each other at a drugstore just after Obama was elected president, they barely spoke. The only time she was ever really happy was with Liselle, back in college. Homelessness, starving children, the very living horrors of history that made America possible: these and other thoughts have made it difficult for her to live an easy life. Dalloway and Sula, as well as Audre Lorde's Zami, Asali Solomon's The Days of Afrekete is a deft, expertly layered, naturally funny, and deeply human examination of two women coming back to themselves at midlife. An avalanche of questions tumbles around her: Is it possible he’s guilty? Who are they to each other who have they become? How much of herself has she lost-and was it worth it? And just this minute, how will she make it through this dinner party?Īcross town, Selena Octave is making her way through the same day, the same way she always does-one foot in front of the other, keeping quiet and focused, trying not to see the terrors all around her. What happens in The Days of Afrekete, the second novel by Asali Solomon (Disgruntled), takes just an evening: Liselle Belmont prepares for and hosts a dinner party to thank her husband Winns loyal supporters, despite a failed political campaign. But as the day wears on, memories of Liselle begin to shift Selena's path. Then an FBI agent calls to warn her that Winn might be facing corruption charges. It seems a strange occasion-her husband, Winn, has lost his bid for the state legislature-but what better way to thank key supporters than a feast? Liselle was never sure about her husband becoming a politician, never sure about the limelight, never sure about the life of fundraising and stump speeches. Liselle Belmont is having a dinner party.

Dalloway and Sula, a tender, surprising novel of two women at midlife who rediscover themselves-and perhaps each other

The days of afrekete