Kate Wolf and Eric Newman speak with Angela Flournoy about her novel, "The Wilderness." Moving back and forth from the early 2000s to the present, the novel looks at the stories of five women living in New York and Los Angeles, capturing the mess and power of their deep, complicated friendships as they navigate love, motherhood, careers, and everything in between. Angela discusses how she developed these characters, how she works with scenes and dialog, and why she wanted to write about Black female friendship.

Angela Flournoy's "The Wilderness"

The Los Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts.

The Los Angeles Review of Books magazine was created in part as a response to the disappearance of the traditional newspaper book review supplement, and, with it, the art of lively, intelligent long-form writing on recent publications in every genre, ranging from fiction to politics. The Los Angeles Review of Books seeks to revive and reinvent the book review for the internet age, and remains committed to covering and representing today’s diverse literary and cultural landscape.

Society & Culture

The Los Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts. The Los Angeles Review of Books magazine was created in part as a response to the disappearance of the traditional newspaper book review supplement, and, with it, the art of lively, intelligent long-form writing on recent publications in every genre, ranging from fiction to politics. The Los Angeles Review of Books seeks to revive and reinvent the book review for the internet age, and remains committed to covering and representing today’s diverse literary and cultural landscape.

Share Angela Flournoy's "The Wilderness"

Sign up to save your podcasts

Angela Flournoy's "The Wilderness"

Angela Flournoy's "The Wilderness"

More shows like LA Review of Books

The New Yorker: Fiction

The Book Review

Otherppl with Brad Listi

Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry

The LRB Podcast

New Books in Critical Theory

The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

London Review Bookshop Podcast

The Shakespeare and Company Interview

The TLS Podcast

City Arts & Lectures

Poured Over

Close Readings

Ordinary Unhappiness

Critics at Large | The New Yorker