University blues

Come and Get It is an intricate campus novel that intersects class, race, desire and indiscretion.

Featuring an ensemble of young women, Kiley Reid’s follow-up to the Booker-longlisted Such a Fun Age unfolds from several perspectives, and shows in subtle ways how disparate lives can brush up against, intertwine with, and encroach on, each other.

Agatha Paul is a visiting professor at the University of Arkansas, having moved from Chicago after separating from a financially precarious dancer, Robin, whom she married to share her health insurance benefits. By chance, she meets college senior Millie Cousins, resident assistant at Belgrade, the dormitory where junior resident Tyler lives with her roommates Peyton and Kennedy, and friends Casey and Jenna. The latter two sign up with Tyler to be interviewed for Agatha’s new book on wedding traditions.