When the Harvest Comes, Denne Michele Norris
When the Harvest Comes, Denne Michele Norris
List: $23.00 | Sale: $16.10
Club: $11.50

When the Harvest Comes

Author: Denne Michele Norris

Narrator: L Morgan Lee

Unabridged: 11 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/15/2025


Synopsis

In this “achingly beautiful debut” (The Boston Globe), a young Black gay man, estranged from his father, must confront his painful past—and his deepest desires around gender, love, and sex.

“A beautiful, clear-eyed portrait of love in the face of religious and familial betrayal.”—Elle

“This novel is less the arrival of a major talent and more the confirmation of one we should all already be reading. Don’t miss it.”—them

A THEM AND ELLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

“I got tired of running away from what I should’ve been running toward.”

The venerated Reverend Doctor John Freeman did not raise his son, Davis, to be touched by any man, let alone a white man. He did not raise his son to whisper that man’s name with tenderness.

But on the eve of his wedding, all Davis can think about is how beautiful he wants to look when he meets his beloved Everett at the altar. Never mind that his mother, who died decades before, and his father, whose anger drove Davis to flee their home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, for a freer life in New York City, won’t be there to walk him down the aisle. All Davis needs to be happy in this life is Everett, his new family, and his burgeoning career as an acclaimed violist.

When Davis learns during the wedding reception that his father has been in a terrible car accident, years of childhood trauma and unspoken emotion resurface. Davis must revisit everything that went wrong between them, risking his fledgling marriage along the way.

In resplendent prose, Denne Michele Norris’s When the Harvest Comes reveals the pain of inheritance and the heroic power of love, reminding us that, in the end, we are more than the men who came before us.

Reviews

Goodreads review by emma on April 21, 2025

i'm a sucker for a heart wrenching debut novel (review to come / thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)......more

Goodreads review by Dennis on March 17, 2025

I haven't seen much buzz about Denne Michele Norris' upcoming novel, WHEN THE HARVEST COMES, but it immediately caught my attention and moved right to the top of my TBR. This book sounds very much like a Bryan Washington (Lot, Memorial, Family Meal) type of vibe, so I knew that I wanted to dive in.......more

Goodreads review by Lieve on October 05, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for sending me an e-ARC of this book. The plot of this book was very good, and it's definitely the type of story I could like. However, I didn't really gel with the writing. I felt there were a few more POV's than entirely necessary. If it had stayed between D......more

Goodreads review by Kasa on April 16, 2025

When the Harvest Comes is a beautiful love story about acceptance and identity, how to navigate both in a gay marriage. Warning should be given about several scenes of erotica, but they are more than overshadowed by me by the lovely descriptions of the experiences of a virtuoso with their viola.......more

Goodreads review by Jackie on February 20, 2025

This is an intense love story like no other. It started with Davis and Everett getting married with the anticipation that this would be the best day of their lives. The emphasis was on Davis who was overjoyed to be with a strong man who appeared to be perfect for him: protective, passionate, charmin......more


Quotes

“A beautiful, clear-eyed portrait of love in the face of religious and familial betrayal.”—Elle

“A gorgeous, deeply heartfelt, and romantic queer fairy tale about finding home and safety in one another.”—Roxane Gay

“Triumphant . . . an earnest, tender story about the courage it takes to let yourself be seen and loved for exactly who you are.”—BookPage

“Gorgeous. . . This is worth savoring.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Vibrant . . . Denne Michele Norris’s emotional insightfulness and astounding talent are on display in When the Harvest Comes.—Chicago Review of Books

When The Harvest Comes invites us to see the most painful truths of ourselves and our pasts, hold them up to the sun, and let the light pass through.”—The Rumpus

“An achingly beautiful debut about family estrangement, the bonds of marriage, and the painful necessity of reckoning with the past.”—The Boston Globe

“A novel [about] choosing love in the face of misunderstanding, and, more importantly, the freedom that comes in finding yourself.”—TODAY

“Epic, intimate, brutal, and tender . . . Denne Michele Norris has written a breathtaking testimony about the boundlessness of love. This is the arrival of a major new American voice.”—Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

When the Harvest Comes is abundant with a kind of grace I’m especially hungry for these days: the possibility that we can mend at least some of what we’ve torn apart, the chance that we’re not entirely too late.”—R. O. Kwon, author of Exhibit

“A story of becoming yourself that isn’t like anything I’ve ever read. . . a brave and powerful novel exploring the freedom we find in the presence of those loves we cannot hide from.”—Alexander Chee, author of The Queen of the Night

“This is a book to sink into, to luxuriate within—a book that’s generous with the pleasures and comforts of a good story and rich characters, so much so that it’s only when you’re finished that you realize that you’ve never before read something quite like it.”—Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby

When the Harvest Comes is a book for anyone who’s ever believed they didn’t deserve happiness, for anyone whose worldview has been shaped by marginalization, for anyone who’s accomplished more than was expected of them.”—Alejandro Varela, author of The Town of Babylon

“Denne Michele Norris writes with confidence and grace about some of life’s biggest concerns: family, love, safety, grief, and most importantly, how to be true to one’s self. ”—Angela Flournoy, author of The Turner House

“Romantic, wise and healing, When the Harvest Comes enchants with every line.”—Chelsea T. Hicks, author of A Calm and Normal Heart

“Aching and resplendent, deeply felt and meticulously imagined, When the Harvest Comes is a song of becoming and reconciliation: of family, of self, of abiding love.”—Sarah Thankam Mathews, author of All This Could Be Different

“A radiant, heartfelt exploration of love in all its complex, transformative forms.”—Garrard Conley, author of All the World Beside