Those We Thought We Knew
Those We Thought We Knew by David Joy, published by Penguin Group on August 27, 2024, is a 416-page novel that delves into the complexities of a small North Carolina community. The story follows Toya Gardner, a young Black artist who returns to her ancestral home to explore her family history while working on her graduate thesis. Her journey takes a turn when she encounters a Confederate monument, prompting her to confront deeper issues within the town.
As the narrative unfolds, local deputies discover a man in a station wagon who is revealed to be a high-ranking member of the Klan, igniting tensions in the community. The discovery of a notebook filled with local names leads to the unearthing of long-buried secrets, as two horrific crimes fracture the county. Those We Thought We Knew presents a raw exploration of the hidden darkness within familiar faces, challenging the characters and readers alike to confront uncomfortable truths about identity and community.
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Winner of the 2023 Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction
Winner of the 2023 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award
Winner of the 2024 Sir Walter Raleigh Award
From award-winning writer David Joy comes a searing new novel about the cracks that form in a small North Carolina community and the evils that unfurl from its center.
Toya Gardner, a young Black artist from Atlanta, has returned to her ancestral home in the North Carolina mountains to trace her family history and complete her graduate thesis. But when she encounters a still-standing Confederate monument in the heart of town, she sets her sights on something bigger.
Meanwhile, local deputies find a man sleeping in the back of a station wagon and believe him to be nothing more than some slack-jawed drifter. Yet a search of the man’s vehicle reveals that he is a high-ranking member of the Klan, and the uncovering of a notebook filled with local names threatens to turn the mountain on end.
After two horrific crimes split the county apart, every soul must wrestle with deep and unspoken secrets that stretch back for generations. Those We Thought We Knew is an urgent unraveling of the dark underbelly of a community. Richly drawn and bracingly honest, it asks what happens when the people you’ve always known turn out to be monsters, what do you do when everything you ever believed crumbles away?
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