The white hot : a novel / Quiara Alegría Hudes.
"April is a young mother raising her daughter in an intergenerational house of unspoken secrets and loud arguments. Her only refuge is to hide away in a locked bathroom, her ears plugged into an ambient soundscape, and a mantra on her lips: dead inside. That is, until one day, as she finds herself spiraling toward the volcanic rage she calls the white hot, a voice inside her tells her to just ... walk away. She wanders to a bus station and asks for a ticket to the furthest destination; she tells the clerk to make it one-way. That ticket takes her from her Philly home to the threshold of a wilderness and the beginning of a nameless quest-an accidental journey that shakes her awake, almost kills her, and brings her to the brink of an impossible choice. The White Hot takes the form of a letter from mother to daughter about a moment of abandonment that would stretch from ten days to ten years-an explanation, but not an apology. Hudes narrates April's story-spiritual and sexy, fierce and funny-with delicate lyricism and tough love. Just as April finds in her painful and absurd sojourn the key to freeing herself and her family from a cage of generational trauma, so Hudes turns April's stumbling pursuit of herself into an unforgettable short epic of self-discovery"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780593732335 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: 165 pages ; 22 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : One World, [2025]
- Copyright: ©2025
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Absentee mothers > Fiction. Anger > Fiction. Mothers and daughters > Fiction. Quests (Expeditions) > Fiction. Self-actualization (Psychology) in women > Fiction. Single mothers > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Feminist fiction. Psychological fiction. Novels. |
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeshore Branch | FIC Hudes | 31681010444701 | FICTION | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
"April is a young mother raising her daughter in an intergenerational house of unspoken secrets and loud arguments. Her only refuge is to hide away in a locked bathroom, her ears plugged into an ambient soundscape, and a mantra on her lips: dead inside. That is, until one day, as she finds herself spiraling toward the volcanic rage she calls the white hot, a voice inside her tells her to just...walk away. She wanders to a bus station and asks for a ticket to the furthest destination; she tells the clerk to make it one-way. That ticket takes her from her Philly home to the threshold of a wilderness and the beginning of a nameless quest-an accidental journey that shakes her awake, almost kills her, and brings her to the brink of an impossible choice. The White Hot takes the form of a letter from mother to daughter about a moment of abandonment that would stretch from ten days to ten years-an explanation, but not an apology. Hudes narrates April's story-spiritual and sexy, fierce and funny-with delicate lyricism and tough love. Just as April finds in her painful and absurd sojourn the key to freeing herself and her family from a cage of generational trauma, so Hudes turns April's stumbling pursuit of herself into an unforgettable short epic of self-discovery"-- Provided by publisher. - Random House, Inc.
The story of a runaway motherâs ten days of freedomâand the pain, desire, longing, and wonder we find on the messy road to enlightenmentâfrom Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara AlegrÃa Hudes.
âThe White Hot has the effect of pressing your hand to a barbed live wire. Aprilâs is one of the most memorable voices Iâve encountered in recent fiction. . . . [A] brilliant depiction of a woman learning to transform her rage into something resembling transcendence.ââThe New York Times Book Review
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, OPRAH DAILY, KIRKUS REVIEWS, BOOKPAGE
April is a young mother raising her daughter in an intergenerational house of unspoken secrets and loud arguments. Her only refuge is to hide away in a locked bathroom, her ears plugged into an ambient soundscape, and a mantra on her lips: dead inside. That is, until one day, as she finds herself spiraling toward the volcanic rage she calls the white hot, a voice inside her tells her to just . . . walk away. She wanders to a bus station and asks for a ticket to the furthest destination; she tells the clerk to make it one-way. That ticket takes her from her Philly home to the threshold of a wilderness and the beginning of a nameless questâan accidental journey that shakes her awake, almost kills her, and brings her to the brink of an impossible choice.
The White Hot takes the form of a letter from mother to daughter about a moment of abandonment that would stretch from ten days to ten yearsâan explanation, but not an apology. Hudes narrates Aprilâs storyâspiritual and sexy, fierce and funnyâwith delicate lyricism and tough love. Just as April finds in her painful and absurd sojourn the key to freeing herself and her family from a cage of generational trauma, so Hudes turns Aprilâs stumbling pursuit of herself into an unforgettable short epic of self-discovery.