Forna’s deftly constructed and affecting fourth novel unfolds in London, where a fox is the unlikely catalyst for a chance meeting between two visiting strangers. Jean, in town to study urban foxes, catches sight of one and collides with Attila, a Ghanaian psychiatrist there to deliver an address on trauma. He’s also looking for the son of a friend who was swept up in an immigration crackdown. As his relationship with Jean develops, she mobilizes her team of fox spotters—largely West African security guards, doormen, and traffic wardens—to search for the boy. Meanwhile, Attila’s recent experiences cause him to question the premises of his theories and the values of the society he happens to be part of. Forna, the Lannan Visiting Chair of Poetics at Georgetown University, will be in conversation with Sharon Gelman, a writer, editor, media producer, and human rights activist.
