The Shape of Dreams

Reynolds (Knee-Deep in Wonder) paints a vivid portrait of East Harlem during the Reagan era. At the outset, streetwise Matilda “Twin” Johnson, 57 and nearly six feet tall, discovers the corpse of Tyrone Jackson, a Black 12-year-old whose widowed single mother, Anita, is a hard-working postal employee. When the police ask if he was affiliated with a gang, Anita scoffs. Her neighbors, led by her best friend Wanda, come together to support her in her grief. At the center of their lives is Reverend Carl’s Ethiopian Church, which becomes the site of the novel’s second significant event, a destructive fire. Other prominent characters include Wanda’s shiftless son, Daryl, who’s regularly shaken down by the police, and the enigmatic Lara Taylor, a star soprano singer at the church. As Anita slowly emerges from her grief, she seeks answers and closure. Without losing track of its well-developed characters, the novel morphs into a gripping whodunit, as the neighbors try to solve the mysteries of the fire and Tyrone’s death while the police drag their heels. Readers will savor this rich tableau of a resilient community. Agent: Jennifer Lyons, Jennifer Lyons Literary. (Feb.)