A woman’s journey with the Black Panthers reveals the momentum — and dangers — of activism

Book Review Kingdom of No Tomorrow: A Novel By Fabienne Josaphat Algonquin Books: 288 pages, $28 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. Isolated as a child, Nettie now aspires to “heal not just with medicine and leaves, but also with nutrition and sunlight.” By becoming a doctor, she hopes to “show compassion like her father” and “follow in his footsteps.” Kingdom of No Tomorrow These aspirations lead her to a local clinic where, along with a fellow student, Clia Brown, Nettie administers house visits, gathering information on patients. In a period filled with change and possibility, it feels almost natural that their trip would lead to an unexpected encounter “forever stamped on their skin.” Though neither Nettie nor Clia plainly states the depth of their connection, neither do they shy away from their attraction to one another. As an interlocutor of the heated moment, Nettie is a complicated woman who carries the burden of being the hard-working future physician that the community had “all been waiting for,” while also hearing in her head her father’s challenge that “the words only matter if you can participate in its revolution.” Freedom remains the refrain of the day, with marriage perceived as a bourgeois act. The stark, macho loyalty tests stand in contrast with Nettie’s memories of Clia and moments of matriarchal “unification” and “nurturing” that she experiences after a shattering loss.