We Rip the World Apart

"Page-turning and propulsive, heartbreaking and hopeful in turn. An important and necessary book that will stay with me for a long time."—Shelby Van Pelt, New York Times bestselling author of Remarkably Bright Creatures

From the acclaimed author of Hold My Girl comes a sweeping multi-generational story about motherhood, race, and secrets.

When 24-year-old Kareela discovers she's pregnant with a child she isn't sure she wants, her struggle to understand her place in the world as a person who is half-Black, half-white—yet feels neither—is amplified.

Her mother, Evelyn, fled to Canada with her husband and their first-born child during the politically charged Jamaican exodus in the 1980s, only to realize they'd come to a place where Black men are viewed with suspicion—a constant and pernicious reality Evelyn watches her husband and son navigate daily.

Years later, in the aftermath of her son's murder by the police, Evelyn's mother-in-law, Violet, moves in, offering young Kareela a link to the Jamaican heritage she had never fully known. Despite Violet's efforts to help them through their grief, the traumas they carry grow into a web of secrets that threatens the very family they all hold so dear.

In the present day, Kareela, prompted by fear and uncertainty about the new life she carries, must come to terms with the mysteries surrounding her family's past and the need to make sense of both her identity and her future.

Weaving the women's stories across multiple timelines, We Rip the World Apart reveals the ways that simple choices, made in the heat of the moment and with the best of intentions, can have deep and lasting repercussions—especially when people stay silent.

Note: Editing errors that were present in this audio recording have been corrected as of March 2025.