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The New Naturals

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
Critically acclaimed, for readers of Paul Beatty's The Sellout and Jennifer Egan's The Candy House, a moving and darkly funny novel about an attempt to found an underground Utopia.
An abandoned restaurant on a hill off the highway in Western Massachusetts doesn't look like much. But to Rio, a young Black woman bereft after the loss of her newborn child, this hill becomes more than a safe haven—it becomes a place to start over. She convinces her husband to help her construct a society underground, somewhere everyone can feel safe, loved, and accepted.

Soon their utopia begins to take shape and attracts the unhoused, the disillusioned, and the spiritually lost. But no matter how much these people all yearn for a sanctuary from the existential dread of life above the surface, what happens if this new society can't actually work?
From an exciting new literary voice, The New Naturals is fresh and deeply perceptive, capturing the absurdity of life in the 21st century. In this remarkable feat of imagination, Bump shows us that, ultimately, it is our love for and connection to each other that will save us.
**A 2023 NEW YORK TIMES and WASHINGTON POST Notable Book and a BOSTON GLOBE Best Book of the Year**
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    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 14, 2023
      Bump (Everywhere You Don’t Belong) delivers a wry and astonishing sophomore novel centered on a pair of Black academics who flee their posts at a Boston liberal arts college to establish a utopia of sorts in western Massachusetts. Rio and Gibraltar both teach “Black people to white children,” until Rio, pregnant and weary of campus racism, starts obsessively marking a global map with X’s where such grim events as police killings, violent protests, and immigration crackdowns have occurred. “Tell me what you need,” Gibraltar asks her; “Get me the fuck out of Boston,” Rio replies. The pair secure an unnamed, wealthy benefactor searching for something “world-changing,” and in a year’s time, the subterranean utopia dubbed the New Naturals is carved into a mountain, with state-of-the-art classrooms, laboratories, a garden, and filtered air. Those drawn to the facility, including a young journalist in existential crisis and a former college soccer player, now broken and angry, are all searching for clean, safe living in a world on fire. Meanwhile, the utopia’s growing pains spark tensions with the surrounding community that threaten its survival. Brisk dialogue and flashes of mordant humor pay off, and Bump cannily grapples with such issues as gentrification, microaggressions, and environmental racism. This is a scalding study in human nature.

    • Kirkus

      September 15, 2023
      A Black couple launches an ambitious plan to reinvent society in this potent allegory. Bump's second novel--following Everywhere You Don't Belong (2020)--centers on a pair of young academics, Rio and Gibraltar, whose plans as writers, thinkers, and influencers are suddenly disrupted when their infant daughter dies. Taking a cue from her grandfather's stories of his upbringing in an idyllic, remote Florida town, Rio imagines creating a similar utopia in an unlikely locale: under a restaurant near their western Massachusetts home. In short order she finds a wealthy benefactor to fund what they've dubbed the New Naturals. As she and Gibraltar get to work, the narrative alternates among various characters who find themselves headed toward the commune, including Sojourner, a journalist; Bounce, a one-time star college soccer player who's hit the skids; and Buchanan and Elting, two homeless men. "All she wanted was a place for people to live and love and hide," Rio thinks. "Was that too much? Was that impossible?" Maybe so, Bump suggests. Bump's study of race and marginalization is built more on brief character sketches than deep-grain realism, which makes for some gorgeous and lyrical writing, especially around grief; dialogue-heavy scenes with Buchanan and Elting have a darkly comic tinge that recalls Waiting for Godot. (There are echoes throughout of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and Paul Beatty's The Sellout as well.) Inevitably, the best-laid plans of the New Naturals come under attack, which opens up questions of what structures make for an equitable society, and whether our divisions are hard-wired. But Bump doesn't speak over his characters, letting their own struggles and ambiguous destinies speak to the depth of the challenge. An effecting, experimental tale of race and reinvention.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      October 1, 2023
      The road to eutopia is littered with historical and fictional disasters as starry-eyed idealists are brought up short by the reality of human selfishness and stupidity. In his innovative second novel, following the award-winning Everywhere You Don't Belong (2020), Bump focuses less on the inevitable decline of a human-engineered paradise and more on the lost souls seeking it. Rio and Gibraltar, Black intellectuals at an exclusive New England college, become untethered after a personal tragedy. Burning with rage and a need for purpose, Rio conceives of an underground paradise, inspired by tales of her slave ancestors who created secret communities in the woods. Meanwhile, lovers Sojourner and Bounce and the schizophrenic Bachmann and his companion, Elting, are drawn to Rio's idealized enclave. Some will find it, some will arrive too late, while happiness may remain elusive for Rio and Gibraltar. Bump slyly evokes the messiness of building community. Board members with impressive titles sob over their abandoned homes and families while the community's children ask the practical questions, Why couldn't they call their friends? Why couldn't they eat pizza and watch comedies? While Bump pokes fun at their excesses, he never loses sight of his characters' humanity, maintaining his and our empathy for even the most foolish seekers among us.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Robin Miles brings to life this compelling and thought-provoking novel about grief, connection, and hope. After the loss of their infant, a college professor named Rio and her husband, Gibraltar, decide to create a safe haven in Massachusetts. They build an underground sanctuary for those who are finding it impossible to deal with today's frightening and ever-changing world. Miles's delivery perfectly matches the stream-of-consciousness style of Bump's writing. She also creates effective distinctions among the wide range of multidimensional characters who find their way to Rio's utopia. Ultimately, the audiobook asks timely questions about society, survival, and belonging. K.S.M. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      May 31, 2024

      Bump's sophomore effort (following Everywhere You Don't Belong) starts with an intriguing premise. Rio and her husband Gibraltar suffer a devastating loss, prompting Rio to conceive of an experimental utopian society where individuals can find safety and acceptance. A generous benefactor emerges, and Rio's vision gains momentum. The story then jumps around to a series of other characters, exploring their struggles and why they might be good candidates for this new society. Inevitably, funding dries up for Rio's utopian dream. Unfortunately, the novel's frequent shifts in point of view result in a disjointed listening experience. Despite these hiccups, Robin Miles's narration shines, particularly in her portrayal of Bump's strong women characters. Her ability to navigate the intricacies of relationships and interactions also extends to secondary characters; she manages multiple storylines, where some characters intersect with each other while others do not. She has a knack for capturing each character's inner turmoil and external struggles. VERDICT Bump's novel might falter in its narrative cohesion, but Miles's exceptional narration lends coherence and depth to this imaginative tale, which delves into issues of class, race, idealism, and community. For fans of Paul Beatty's The Sellout.--Christa Van Herreweghe

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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