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Fugitive Archives

An American Family and the Myth of Belonging

Fugitive Archives Open the full-size image

Contributors

By Asale Angel-Ajani

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Oct 6, 2026
Page Count
256 pages
Publisher
Algonquin Books
ISBN-13
9781643753188

Price

$29.00

Price

$39.00 CAD

Format

Format:

  1. Hardcover $29.00 $39.00 CAD
  2. ebook $14.99 $19.99 CAD
  3. Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $24.99

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A piercing, unforgettable memoir-in-essays about the contradictions and racism present in intimate relationships that are so little discussed, and yet form the backbone of white supremacy. Fugitive Archives will redefine the conversation about race in America today, from our closest, most important relationships outward.  

Genre:

  • Praise for A Country You Can Leave:

    “A master class of a bildungsroman . . . Like childhood, Angel-Ajani’s novel is alternately horrifying and spellbinding in its lessons about love, family and growing up." I>The New York Times

    "Angel-Ajani’s unflinching portrait of this hypernuclear family is captivating and complex, with a richly drawn supporting cast and occasional arch humor that leavens the intensely emotional backdrop." —Bookpage (starred review)

    "[A] piercing debut novel . . . In perceptive prose and wry dialogue, Angel-Ajani brings to life a mother and daughter trapped by their circumstances. This is exemplary." 
    Publishers Weekly (starred review) "From page one, A Country You Can Leave is a riveting, exasperating, and deeply heartbreaking tale of mother-daughter strife and resilience. Asale Angel-Ajani is an explosive talent and her story of Afro-Cuban Lara coming of age in a ruthless headlock with her survivalist Russian mother, Yevgenia, will disintegrate your strong-held emotional walls, down to her very last act of resistance." —Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Olga Dies Dreaming  

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Asale Angel-Ajani

About the Author

Asale Angel-Ajani is the author of Strange Trade: The Story of Two Women Who Risked Everything in the International Drug Trade and the novel A Country You Can Leave. She’s held residencies at Djerassi, Millay, Playa, Tin House, and VONA, and is a recipient of grants from the Ford, Mellon, and Rockefeller Foundations. Angel-Ajani has a PhD in Anthropology and an MFA in Creative Writing and is currently Director of the Women and Genders Studies department at the City College of New York, where she lives with her family.

Learn more about this author