RaveThe New RepublicWe have a glimpse of a group that feels genuine: born of off-screen relationships, inflected with politics without falling into formality or righteous monologue ... There are certain templates for the novel of female friendship, and with The Wilderness, Flournoy has broken with them ... Flournoy’s kaleidoscopic view feels true to our times ... Flournoy demonstrates a keen awareness of how class and career shape friendships ... A somber yet emotional arc ... Flournoy’s depiction of resistance from within the city’s encampments and the immigrant community feels prophetic ... [There is] a problem with the elliptical narration ... Flournoy manages to specifically highlight Black experiences while also expressing the universality of those experiences.
Leslie Jamison
PositiveThe NationJamison weaves a story of marital friction and motherly love that is as much about the world as it is a reflection on the self ... I couldn’t help but think that the class dimension of Jamison’s story needed to be explained.
Shannon Sanders
MixedThe Washington PostSanders grapples with...relationship issues, to varying degrees of success, in her debut short-story collection ... Straightforward ... The book excels when the prose is subtle and lean ... However, there are times when the language can be wooden, or where the rapport between characters feels pedestrian ... wondered if Company would have been more potent as a lengthier opus, interwoven with the hyper-precise rhythms of each person or generation. Nevertheless, Company shows the frayed edges of friendship and family, and Sanders extracts comedy from the formidable situations that erupt in people’s lives — divorce, financial struggle, aging, death and childlessness. Whether chosen or biological, who we consider family can shape how we cope with drama.
