None of This Would Have Happened If Prince Were Alive

Prusa’s engaging debut chronicles two days of upheavals for a Savannah, Ga., working mother as Hurricane Matthew closes in, in 2016. Ramona, a Prince fan and 38-year-old mother of two, catches her husband, Desmond, cheating on her. Already overwhelmed by potty training their younger child and dealing with her unreasonable boss, who expects her to report to work during the category four storm, Ramona heeds evacuation orders and heads to a friend’s home in Augusta with her two kids and Baily, a neighbor’s kindly teenage son who has been left at home alone. After Ramona learns her headstrong mother, Adelaide, won’t evacuate because she doesn’t want to leave her pets behind, Ramona and company return to Savannah to ensure Adelaide’s safety. There, she learns more about Bailey’s precarious home situation and confronts Desmond as the storm makes landfall. Ramona proves to be an amiable narrator, with her musings about the death of Prince (“Prince has been gone six months, and the world already feels less sparkly”) mixed with reflections on what it takes to be a good mom. There’s a lot to enjoy in this thoughtful outing. Agent: Maggie Cooper, Aevitas Creative. (Nov.)