Jocelyn Nicole Johnson

Riveting storytelling. This incandescent work speaks not just to the moment, but to history

A badass debut by any measure - nimble, knowing, and electrifying

Colson Whitehead, twice-Pulitzer Prize winning author of THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD and THE NICKEL BOYS

Absolutely unforgettable. Johnson's prose soars to remarkable heights

Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of HUNGER and AYITI

Unputdownable... Extraordinarily powerful... One of the finest books of 2021 and a future classic

My Monticello is a magnificent debut that holds so much in its gaze. This breathtaking, artful book is a gift

Megha Majumdar, New York Times bestselling author of A BURNING

I was enthralled from the opening lines of this book. Stunning

Charles Yu, National Book Award-winning author of INTERIOR CHINATOWN

This is a stunning debut by a brilliant and original new voice

Danielle Evans, award-winning author of THE OFFICE OF HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS

An extraordinary debut from a gifted writer with an unflinching view of history and what may come of it.

Johnson is a great observer. The novel is full of stunningly precise figurative language... [it's] utterly absorbing...a meditation of how the brutal past of slavery still has a potent legacy in contemporary America; it also portrays the redemptive powers of love and care

This powerful and memorable book is a must-read

[A] tenderly rendered apocalyptic novella... Johnson is an unusually sensitive writer, combining a mood of impending doom with language of soulful beauty

This brief, brilliant gut-punch of a novel is frighteningly plausible... Lush, harrowing, and entirely believable - a marvel of economy

My Monticello is short, satisfying and punchy: more debuts should be like this

This brief, brilliant gut-punch of a novel is frighteningly plausible

My Monticello is a bleak story but reading it elicits the same kind of sensation that comes from listening to a poignant blues song: there is pleasure in its creation without denying the pain of the subject

A history lesson, a fable, an inquiry into the nature of historic monuments, a heartfelt tale of community and above all a nail-biting story.

Beautifully written with unforgettable characters... My Monticello is an unforgettable and thought-provoking novella that will unsettle you to your core.

THE most powerful read of summer 2022

'Riveting' Guardian 
'Electrifying' Colson Whitehead 
 
When the world collapses, where will you run? 
 
After rolling blackouts and epic storms engulf America, the neighbourhood of First Street, Charlottesville comes under attack by violent white supremacists. A small group of families, friends and strangers flee for their lives, taking refuge in Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's historic plantation home in the hills above the town. 
 
Over nineteen heart-stopping days the group, led by Da'Naisha Love - a young Black descendant of Jefferson and Sally Hemings - find ways to survive as the world burns beneath them. But with the terror below coming closer, they must decide how far they're willing to go to protect what's theirs . . . 
 
'Absolutely unforgettable' Roxane Gay 
'Stunning' Mail on Sunday

Jocelyn Nicole Johnson

Praise for My Monticello

Riveting storytelling. This incandescent work speaks not just to the moment, but to history

A badass debut by any measure - nimble, knowing, and electrifying

An electric new literary voice

Riveting storytelling. This incandescent work speaks not just to the moment, but to history

A badass debut by any measure - nimble, knowing, and electrifying

An electric new literary voice

Riveting storytelling. This incandescent work speaks not just to the moment, but to history

A badass debut by any measure - nimble, knowing, and electrifying

An electric new literary voice

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