Night Wherever We Go

In "Night Wherever We Go," six enslaved women on a Texas plantation gather in the woods under the cover of night to protect themselves from the plantation owners' plan to impregnate them. The novel is a powerful meditation on resistance, autonomy, love, and transcendence, and the bonds of female friendship in the darkest of circumstances.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 27 April 2023
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize 2023, "Night Wherever We Go" is a haunting and moving story by Sarah Waters. The novel delves into the intimate lives of enslaved women on a struggling Texas plantation, where the plantation owners, known as the Lucys, have decided to turn around their financial prospects by making the women bear children. The Lucys have hired a "stockman" to impregnate them, but the women are determined to protect themselves.

In the woods under the cover of night, six enslaved women gather, including Nan, the doctoring woman, who has brought a sack of cotton root clippings that can stave off children when chewed daily. If they all take part, the Lucys may give up and send the stockman away. However, a pregnancy for any of them will only encourage the Lucys further, and if their plan is discovered, the consequences will be severe.

"Night Wherever We Go" is a powerful and inspired achievement that offers an evocative meditation on resistance and autonomy, love and transcendence, and the bonds of female friendship in the darkest of circumstances. The novel marks the arrival of a bold, lyrical, and powerful new voice in fiction.

Weight: 508g
Dimension: 162 x 244 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780008532840