No One Is Coming To Save Us

"Watts writes about ordinary people leading ordinary lives with an extraordinary level of empathy and attention...The novel's intricately plotted relationships pay off satisfyingly in its final chapters." - New York Times Book Review

"Watts is so captivating a writer. She's unusually deft with dialogue...[The novel is] conveyed in a prose style that renders the common language of casual speech into natural poetry, blending intimate conversation with the rhythms of gossip, town legend, even song lyrics...An indelible story." - Washington Post

"Watts's book envisions a backwoods African-American version of The Great Gatsby. The circumstances of her characters are vastly unlike Fitzgerald's, and those differences are what make this novel so moving." - Janet Maslin, New York Times "Imagine The Great Gatsby, only set in the contemporary American South, and retold with black characters, rather than the lily-shite Long Island set. Watts' retelling is smart, unsettling, at times hilarious, and a wonderful update to this classic American novel." - Nylon Magazine

"Watts' lyrical writing and seamless floating between characters' viewpoints make for a harmonious narrative chorus. This feels like an important, largely missing part of our ongoing American story. Ultimately, Watts offers a human tale of resilience and the universally understood drive to hang on and do whatever it takes to save oneself." - Booklist

"Patient yet rich...Watts powerfully depicts the struggles many Americans face trying to overcome life's inevitable disappointments. But it's the compassion she feels for her characters' vulnerability and desires...that make the story so relevant and memorable." - Publishers Weekly "Deeply evocative." - W Magazine

"Inspired by The Great Gatsby, Watts loosely (masterfully, too) retells the American saga from the present day perspective of a once thriving African American community, breathing fresh life into a classic in a way that feels more essential, more moving than the original." - Marie Claire "A deep, moving read." - Real Simple

"They say if you love something, you should set it free. Not so in Stephanie Powell Watts' powerful debut novel...This timely novel sheds its green light on economic and emotional heartbreak and the spaces where the living meet the dead." - Vanity Fair "[Watts'] great gift is her instinct for empathy...No One is Coming to Save Us proves to be not just a pleasure on its own terms, but also a compassionate and well-timed social commentary, wherein people like us endeavor, falter, and finally endure." - O, the Oprah Magazine

"Watts excels at physical descriptions that give texture to the world of the novel... In the best possible way, this is the kind of book that makes a reader yearn for her next one." - Time "Watts, with her knowing touch and full-bodied prose, delivers a resonant meditation on life and the comfort both in dreaming and in moving forward." - USA Today