THE FURROWS by Namwali Serpell

Cassandra Williams, our first-person narrator, is 12 and her brother, Wayne, is 7 when Cassandra tries to rescue Wayne from drowning.  She loses consciousness on the beach from the effort.  When she awakens, she knows that Wayne is dead, but his body is nowhere to be found, and a stranger drives Cassandra home.  Closure is impossible, Cassandra’s parents divorce, and her mother forms a foundation called Vigil for the families of missing children, holding out hope that Wayne is still alive.  The remainder of the book is largely a series of Cassandra’s encounters with the now-grown Wayne, which I assumed to be dreams.  These events are all described in intricate detail, but there are similarities among all of them, not the least of which is some sort of apocalyptic disaster during the encounter.  This series eventually becomes a bit redundant, causing me to say to myself, “Here we go again.”  Then everything changes, and we are in a different narrative altogether with a different first-person narrator—a man this time, with the same name as Cassandra’s brother.  What??  The title initially refers to ocean waves but then seems to encompass other wave-like natural dangers, especially earthquakes and tsunamis, and one philosophical character describes time, not specifically as having furrows, but certainly with that implication.  So…maybe Cassandra’s encounters with her brother were not dreams but were intended to represent some alternate reality.  This book is enigmatic, especially the ending, and not always one I was eager to resume.  It was not hard to follow, though, and from time to time I can appreciate a book that I can’t completely get my head around.