The Wayfinder

‘Epic in every sense of the word, this is a high wire act that burns the net below.’ – Marlon James, Booker Prize-winning author of A Brief History of Seven Killings‘How lucky we are that Adam Johnson has ignited for us this wild, epic and utterly captivating skein of human history. His years of immersion in the Polynesian oral tradition and research into the Tu‘itonga Empire shimmer through The Wayfinder at every twist, but his rollicking storytelling leads the way.’ – Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Candy House‘From talking corpses to poetic parrots, The Wayfinder is bursting at the seams with ideas and blistering prose.’ * Chicago Review of Books *‘Expansive in scope, historically detailed and totally enthralling … Johnson’s monumental research into the history, legacy and imprint of the Polynesian culture is evident in the meticulous detail of his narrative?which is about much more than his characters, whose vibrancy demands acknowledgement, and his gorgeous landscape descriptions … Part bildungsroman, part historical exploration, this novel is a study of the many islands in the South Pacific, their power struggles, abuses of power and the perseverance to survive.’ * Booklist (starred review) *‘A majestic saga of political unrest in the South Pacific and a girl’s quest to save her people … This is remarkable.’ * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *’[Johnson’s] audacious, unruly imagination roams with confidence through the island kingdom of Tonga … A grand, perilous and transfiguring adventure … Enchanted touches are deftly threaded into the rangy storyline by Johnson’s richly lyrical prose, which is also capable of handling the social dynamics of the Tongans along with the background stories of royalty and their rivals … A world that, like the pendant recovered at the novel’s start, feels ‘both ancient and startlingly new.’’ * Kirkus Reviews *’[An] epic-scale historical adventure from Pulitzer Prize winner Adam Johnson … Johnson paints a rich tale of nature, politics and tradition … It’s a unique, spellbinding saga that drew us into an elaborate world.’ * Apple’s ‘Best of the Month’ *‘This is one of [Adam Johnson’s] biggest swings yet … A sprawling epic.’ * Joumana Khatib, The New York Times Book Review *‘An epic of extraordinary abundance … modern and mythological … wondrous enough to endure’ * Wall Street Journal *‘Johnson is a master builder of fictive worlds. The Wayfinder is a story of cultural erasure wrapped into a fantastical fable.’ * Los Angeles Times *

Adam Johnson is the author of Fortune Smiles, which won the National Book Award and the Story Prize, and The Orphan Master’s Son, which won the Pulitzer Prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the California Book Award. His previous books include the short-story collection Emporium and the novel Parasites Like Us. Johnson was born in South Dakota and is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and children and teaches creative writing at Stanford University.