Desiree, Danielle, January, Monique and Nakia are in their early 20s, and together, they are finding their way through the wilderness, that period of life when the reality of contemporary adulthood swoops in. Desiree and Danielle, sisters whose shared history has done little to prevent their estrangement, nurse bitter family wounds in different ways. January has a relationship with a “good” man she feels ambivalent about, even after her surprise pregnancy. Monique, a librarian and aspiring blogger, finds unexpected online fame after calling out the university where she works for its plans to whitewash history. And Nakia is trying to get her restaurant off the ground, without relying on her upper-middle-class family. These friends must also figure out what they mean to one another --- amid political upheaval, economic and environmental instability, and the increasing volatility of modern American life.

THE TURNER HOUSE is a domestic drama of African-American parents and the 13 children they brought up in Detroit. Angela Flournoy’s debut novel focuses on three of the adult children: Cha-Cha, the oldest, who has been plagued by visions of haints (apparitions); Lelah, the youngest, who has a gambling problem; and Troy, a cop who resorts to underhanded tactics to try to sell the family home, which is worth far less than its mortgage.