But Where's Home?: A Novella and Stories - Hardcover

by Toni Ann Johnson (Author)

It's 1963 in the small town of Monroe, New York. The Arringtons, a Black family, buy a house in a picturesque, all-white neighborhood. Some residents are welcoming, but many react to Dr. Philip Arrington, his wife Velma, and their daughters Livia and Maddie by conspiring against their success in both big and small ways. Amid this mix of hostility and shaky acceptance, the Arringtons must navigate their careers, deal with a volatile marriage, and raise their daughters.

But Where's Home?, Toni Ann Johnson's new collection of linked short stories explores the sometimes painful and often humorous experiences of the Arringtons as an upper-middle-class Black family in a predominantly white, working-class community. This book follows Johnson's previous collection, Light Skin Gone to Waste, which won the 2021 Flannery O'Connor Award. Through multiple perspectives and moments in time, from the 1960s to 2022, readers are invited into the lives of the eldest daughter, who longs for her father's affection while striving for independence; the youngest daughter, who seeks to overcome childhood pain through music and love; a father practicing psychology while engaging in affairs with the white women of the town; and a mother dealing with infidelity while raising her daughters in a place that rejects them.

Deeply emotional, funny, and unflinchingly honest, But Where's Home? lays bare the realities of Black life in America, challenging readers to confront racism, classism, colonized thinking, narcissism, abuse, and troubled parent-child relationships. Johnson's complex and interwoven characters create a kaleidoscope of truths about human nature and race relations in the United States.

Author Biography

Toni Ann Johnson is the winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for short fiction for Light Skin Gone to Waste, which was selected and edited by Roxane Gay. The book was also shortlisted for the Saroyan Prize and nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work. Johnson's novella Homegoing was a semifinalist for the William Faulkner Wisdom Award in fiction and won Accents Publishing's inaugural novella contest. Her novel Remedy for a Broken Angel earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author. As a screenwriter, Johnson won the Humanitas Prize for Ruby Bridges and Crown Heights.