Author Stephanie Wambugu on Grifting, Girlhood, and the Uses of Trauma

The Hope of Obsession: Stephanie Wambugu’s Lonely Crowds - Chicago Review of Books

On the first page of Lonely Crowds, the protagonist Ruth makes a powerful observation: “When I met Maria, I learned that without an obsession life was impossible to live. I’d forgotten. Now, I remembered.” This observation becomes so inherent—a structure of life—that it sinks down into the text. Forgotten, it becomes the bones of the narrative. When we follow Ruth into her darkest moments and contemplations, as well as to her happiest moments—wh…

Author Stephanie Wambugu on Grifting, Girlhood, and the Uses of Trauma

Before the release of "Lonely Crowds," her debut novel, author Stephanie Wambugu joined us to talk Catholic school and female friendship.