Following the accidental loss of her younger brother Wayne, Cassandra Williams, known as C, is plunged into a realm of perpetual grief, with the trauma redefining her reality. Despite the passage of years and her mother's relentless search for the missing, the shadow of Wayne haunts C's existence, his visage flickering through everyday life in impossible places. Her anguish guides her to a stranger bearing Wayne's name and an eerie familiarity, propelling C into a spiraling journey of memory, sorrow, and the tantalizing hope of reunion. Namwali Serpell crafts an odyssey that traverses mistaken identities, the black experience, and the capricious nature of loss, culminating in a profound exploration of the depths to which longing can take us.