When the Harvest Comes

A Novel

Denne Michele Norris

$55

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Random House Inc
13 May 2025

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Historical fiction

In this heart-wrenching debut novel, a young Black gay man reckoning with the death of his father must confront his painful past-and his deepest desires around gender, love, and sex.

""Epic, intimate, brutal, and tender, Denne Michele Norris has written a breathtaking testimony about the boundlessness of love."" -Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

""When the Harvest Comes is a book to sink into, to luxuriate within. . . . It's only when you're finished that you realize that you've never before read a story quite like this one."" -Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby

In this heart-wrenching debut novel, a young Black gay man, estranged from his father, must confront his painful past-and his deepest desires around gender, love, and sex.

""Epic, intimate, brutal, and tender, Denne Michele Norris has written a breathtaking testimony about the boundlessness of love.""-Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

""When the Harvest Comes is a book to sink into, to luxuriate within. . . . It's only when you're finished that you realize that you've never before read a story quite like this one.""-Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby

""I got tired of running away from what I should've been running toward.""

The venerated Reverend Doctor John Freeman did not raise his son, Davis, to be touched by any man, let alone a white man. He did not raise his son to whisper that man's name with tenderness.

But on the eve of his wedding, all Davis can think about is how beautiful he wants to look when he meets his beloved Everett at the altar. Never mind that his mother, who died decades before, and his father, whose anger drove Davis to flee their home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, for a freer life in New York City, won't be there to walk him down the aisle. All Davis needs to be happy in this life is Everett, his new family, and his burgeoning career as an acclaimed violist.

When Davis learns during the wedding reception that his father has been in a terrible car accident, years of childhood trauma and unspoken emotion resurface. Davis must revisit everything that went wrong between them, risking his fledgling marriage along the way.

In resplendent prose, Denne Michele Norris's When the Harvest Comes reveals the pain of inheritance and the heroic power of love, reminding us that, in the end, we are more than the men who came before us.

By: Denne Michele Norris
Imprint: Random House Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 567g
ISBN: 9780593729601
ISBN 10: 0593729609
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 13 May 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Denne Michele Norris is the editor in chief of Electric Literature, winner of the Whiting Literary Magazine Prize. She is the first Black, openly trans woman to helm a major literary publication. She co-hosts the critically acclaimed podcast Food 4 Thot and holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.

Reviews for When the Harvest Comes: A Novel

“Epic, intimate, brutal, and tender, Denne Michele Norris has written a breathtaking testimony about the boundlessness of love. Each character enters like a light beam, puncturing your soul with joy, heartbreak, and unwavering faith in the ability to right their wrongs before time runs out. Seductive, symphonic, and sensitively rendered, When the Harvest Comes announces the arrival of a major new American voice.”—Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies “This is a book to sink into, to luxuriate within—a book that’s generous with the pleasures and comforts of a good story and rich characters, so much so that it’s only when you’re finished that you realize that you’ve never before read something quite like it.”—Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby “A tale of redemption and transformation in the face of great obstacles, When the Harvest Comes is a book for anyone who’s ever believed they didn’t deserve happiness, for anyone whose worldview has been shaped by marginalization, for anyone who’s accomplished more than was expected of them. . . . Moving and uplifting.”—Alejandro Varela, author of The People Who Report More Stress