“Like Octavia Butler and Ursula K. Le Guin before him, Turnbull uses the tools of science fiction to illuminate the human heart. The Lesson stands at the beginning of what I expect to be a long and illustrious career.” —John Kessel, Nebula Award–winning author
“The Lesson is a welcomed addition to the new wave of Virgin Islands literature. The plot is smooth and exciting, the polemics are subtle but smart, and the characters are heartfelt.” —Tiphanie Yanique, author of Land of Love and Drowning
“[A] rich debut novel about family, love, and loyalty in turbulent times…Turnbull uses a beautifully drawn cast of black characters to convey the complexity of ordinary hardship in extraordinary times.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Turnbull’s bold and provocative debut pits aliens against slavers, aliens against the descendants of slaves. On the island of St. Thomas, a family collides with intergalactic meddlers, stranding two lovers with souls in distant worlds. A forbidding panoply of colonial mischief.” —Kris Lackey, USA Today bestselling author of Nail's Crossing
“I came for the aliens and a war of the worlds. I stayed for the deadpan St. Thomas humor; the complicated, charming, sexy island folk; and Turnbull’s delicious prose. He may not only be a new voice in sci-fi, but also a major new name in Caribbean American literature.” —Wilton Barnhardt, New York Times bestselling author of Lookaway, Lookaway
“Cadwell Turnbull paints a stunningly intricate portrait of humanity, capturing hopes and dreams, flaws and failings with remarkable depth and texture. The Lesson is a blast to read and a meaningful exploration of the bearing of colonialism and the perils of human ambition.” —Sylvain Neuvel, author of The Test and the Themis Files trilogy
“Three families wind up in a horrific cycle of violence in a book about family in turbulent times in a debut that has been spoken of in the same breath as last year’s standout Rosewater.” — Barnes&Noble.com

Available June 18, 2019

The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull
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SRP: $26.99
E-book
SRP: $9.99
Audio
$19.95
 

An alien ship rests over Water Island. For five years the people of the US Virgin Islands have lived with the Ynaa, a race of superadvanced aliens on a research mission they will not fully disclose. They are benevolent in many ways but meet any act of aggression with disproportional wrath. This has led to a strained relationship between the Ynaa and the local Virgin Islanders and a peace that cannot last.

A year after the death of a young boy at the hands of an Ynaa, three families find themselves at the center of the inevitable conflict, witness and victim to events that will touch everyone and teach a terrible lesson.

Cadwell Turnbull

Cadwell Turnbull

Cadwell Turnbull is a graduate from the North Carolina State University’s Creative Writing MFA in Fiction and English MA in Linguistics. He was the winner of the 2014 NCSU Prize for Short Fiction for his story “Ears” and attended Clarion West 2016. Turnbull’s short stories have been published in Nightmare, Lightspeed, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. His Asimov’s short story “When the Rains Come Back” made Barnes and Noble’s Sci-fi & Fantasy Short Fiction Roundup in April 2018. He lives in Somerville, Massachusetts. The Lesson is his first book.