The Great Wherever

Named one of 2026's most anticipated books by: Esquire, Literary Hub, BookPage, Debutiful

"Simply put, this book is a pleasure and a treasure" – Tayari Jones, Women's Prize-winning author of An American Marriage

Okay, but the afterlife? It's nothing like it looks in the movies.

A year after the death of her father, Aubrey Lamb receives a phone call from a distant cousin. She has inherited a share of a farm, down in the sun-streaked plains of Tennessee. Seeking distraction, and a way to erase a mounting pile of debt, Aubrey makes her way south to meet a family she barely knows.

Watching her arrival with great interest, and wry scrutiny, are four ghosts: Aubrey's ancestors, the keepers (and spillers) of the farm's secrets. As Aubrey gets to know her living family, another story unfolds in parallel: the history of the land, beginning with its purchase by her great-grandfather, one of the first Black landowners in the community, the four children set to inherit it, their bitter rivalries, and the tragedy that echoes through the decades.

Now, as the clock ticks on a potential sale of the farm, the ghosts fear expulsion from the home they've made, and Aubrey must weigh the hopes and burdens of her forebears with the very real needs of her future.

Dazzling and expansive, The Great Wherever is a multigenerational portrait of the American South, exploring land and legacies, race and generational wealth, and the sharp fragments of the past – how they spark and shine against the surface of our ordinary lives.

Praise for The Great Wherever:

"An epic and deeply human story" – Patrick Ryan, author of the international bestseller Buckeye

"A gift of a book" – Vanessa Chan, author of the international bestseller The Storm We Made

"Gripping, moving, witty, and wise, this is historical fiction at its finest" – Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, author of On the Rooftop, a Reese's Book Club Pick

"I felt dazzled and in awe of all its beauty and magic" – Dawnie Walton, Women's Prize-longlisted author of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev

Praise for Shannon Sanders:

"A deftly woven tapestry that scrupulously depicts familial ties and estrangement" – Jonathan Escoffery, Booker Prize shortlisted author of If I Survive You

"Brilliant, this delighted me" – Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful

"Reading Shannon Sanders makes me want to visit home" – Tony Tulathimutte, author of Rejection

"Sanders extracts comedy from the formidable situations that erupt in people's lives" – Washington Post