
When the Harvest Comes
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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L Morgan Lee
About this listen
In this heart-wrenching debut novel, a young Black gay man, estranged from his father, must confront his painful past—and his deepest desires around gender, love, and sex.
“Epic, intimate, brutal, and tender, Denne Michele Norris has written a breathtaking testimony about the boundlessness of love.”—Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
“When the Harvest Comes is a book to sink into, to luxuriate within. . . . It’s only when you’re finished that you realize that you’ve never before read a story quite like this one.”—Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby
“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.
©2025 Denne Michele Norris (P)2025 Random House AudioCritic reviews
“Epic, intimate, brutal, and tender, Denne Michele Norris has written a breathtaking testimony about the boundlessness of love. Each character enters like a light beam, puncturing your soul with joy, heartbreak, and unwavering faith in the ability to right their wrongs before time runs out. Seductive, symphonic, and sensitively rendered, When the Harvest Comes announces 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 part of what we’ve torn apart, the chance 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. We are still getting the literature we deserve, and Norris takes us further down that road with this 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
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