Angela Flournoy took the literary world by storm with her 2015 debut novel, The Turner House, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Ten years later, she’s back with The Wilderness (Mariner Books, September 16), the story of four Black women navigating their lives over the course of 20 years. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “Elegant and unsettling, this novel evades the expected at every turn.” Flournoy answered our questions by email.

Tell readers, briefly, about your book.

The Wilderness is about growing up, but not in the way that is usually examined in fiction. The novel follows a group of Black women from 2008 to the near future of 2028 as they go from being in their early 20s to early 40s. They navigate aging, becoming parents, and the shifting dynamics of their friendships in Los Angeles and New York.

What inspired you during the writing of the book? What were you reading, listening to, watching?

I am always inspired by the work of previous generations of Black women writers like June Jordan, Toni Morrison, Gayl Jones, Toni Cade Bambara, and Wanda Coleman. A consistent thing about me is that I am always listening to Mariah Carey. I also listened to a lot of contemporary jazz and R&B, from musicians like Immanuel Wilkins, Joel Ross, Terrace Martin, Cleo Sol, and Baby Rose.

Where and when did you write the book? Describe the scene, the time of day, the necessary accoutrements or talismans.

I used to be a big believer in needing the right place, the right time and the right objects at hand to write my fiction. Then I had a child. None of those things stay under your control the way they used to after a baby—and in the wake, you have your own mind, whatever setup is ergonomically tolerable, and whatever time you can afford to have someone else watch your child.

What was most challenging about writing this book? And most rewarding?

After I finished The Turner House, which follows 13 siblings, I swore I wouldn’t write another big cast of characters, but The Wilderness called for me to write a group again. The most challenging aspect of writing this novel was making each of my point-of-view characters feel as real and urgent as the others, but also to execute my broader structural vision.

Will you be touring or doing events for the book this fall? Any you’re especially looking forward to?

I am fortunate to have so many talented and generous friends in conversation with me on this book tour. In New York, I’ll be at the Center for Fiction with Brit Bennett and Raven Leilani, and I’ll be at the Los Angeles Public Library with the writer/actors Issa Rae and Ashley Nicole Black.

What fall release(s) are you most eager to get your hands on?

Jade Chang’s What a Time To Be Alive is an intelligent, funny, and tender look at a year in the life of an accidental internet guru. Aja Gabel’s Lightbreakers is a heartfelt meditation on grief, marriage, parenting, love, and literal time travel. Both are second novels, which in many ways feel harder than the first to write.

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.