David Wroblewski will release the long-awaited follow-up to his debut novel, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, next year.
Blackstone will publish Familiaris next spring, the press announced in a news release.
Wroblewski’s The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, published in 2008 by Ecco, was a reimagining of Hamlet. It followed the title character, a mute boy living in Wisconsin who flees into the woods with three dogs after the death of his father.
The novel became a bestseller and was a pick for Oprah Winfrey’s popular book club. It was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for first fiction.
Familiaris, which is set about 50 years earlier than The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, revisits the family he introduced in his debut. It tells the story of newlyweds John and Mary Sawtelle, who, along with their friends and dogs, travel to northern Wisconsin to start new lives.
“By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, mysterious and enchanting, Familiaris takes readers on an unforgettable journey…examining the dynamics of love and friendship, the vexing nature of families, the universal desire to create something lasting and beautiful, and of course, the species-long partnership between Homo sapiens and Canis familiaris,” Blackstone says of the book.
Familiaris is scheduled for publication on June 4, 2024.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
