The Union

Vernon (Unashamed: Musings of a Fat, Black Muslim) makes her fiction debut with a thought-provoking dystopian novel. The Union of Civilization is a society dictated by a harsh racial hierarchy that places a Black ruling class over white and mixed-race second-class citizens. While the Black Upper Residents live in luxury and abundance, Lower Residents are subjected to forced labor, cruel punishment, and terrible living conditions. Saige Wilde, a mixed-race slave, dreams of escaping the Union, while Avi Jore, an Upper Resident student from a particularly powerful family, begins questioning her position of privilege and the treatment of Lower Residents. When their paths cross, together they uncover harsh secrets about their society—and the potential key to a revolution. By reversing contemporary racial hierarchies, Vernon reflects on how race is a socially constructed concept that can have violent consequences. While there’s the potential to misconstrue the novel as being against reparations, the idea that a society built on ideologies of racial purity and superiority is doomed to implode rings out stronger. Readers will find it easy to invest in Vernon’s complex political tale. Agent: Penelope Burns, Gelfman Schneider. (Sept.)