The Last Suspicious Holdout

“Fiercely intelligent, warm in their own way, and absolutely absorbing. . . . Excellent excellent excellent.”—Roxane Gay

“Ladee Hubbard is a true original, and this book is a unique beauty.”—Mary Gaitskill

The critically acclaimed author of The Rib King returns with an eagerly anticipated collection of interlocking short stories, including the title story written exclusively for this volume, that explore relationships between friends, family, and strangers in a Black neighbourhood over fifteen years.

The thirteen gripping tales in The Last Suspicious Holdout, the new story collection by award-winning author Ladee Hubbard, deftly chronicle poignant moments in the lives of an African American community located in a “sliver of southern suburbia.” Spanning from 1992 to 2007, the stories represent a period during which the Black middle class expanded while stories of "welfare Queens," "crack babies," and "super predators" abounded in the media.

In “False Cognates,” a formerly incarcerated attorney struggles with raising the tuition to keep his troubled son in an elite private school. In “There He Go,” a young girl whose mother moves constantly clings to a picture of the grandfather she doesn’t know but invents stories of his greatness. Characters spotlighted in one story reappear in another, providing a stunning testament to the enduring resilience of Black people as they navigate the “post-racial” period The Last Suspicious Holdout so vividly portrays.