Angela Flournoy's second novel, The Wilderness , starts on a plane descending into Paris and continues from there, following five Black women—sisters Desiree and Danielle, librarian and online commentator Monique, restaurateur Nakia, and January, who is about to be a mother but feels stuck with the wrong partner—over two decades as they navigate the wild ride that is forging oneself in adulthood. Moving from their days of dressing for the club in the late 2000s to facing the horrific violence