The Wayfinder with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Adam Johnson

"An epic of extraordinary abundance . . . modern and mythological. . . wondrous enough to endure."
—The Wall Street Journal

Join Pulitzer Prize–winning author Adam Johnson for a conversation about his ihighly anticipated new novel, The Wayfinder—a sweeping historical epic set across the islands of Tonga. Blending myth, history, and imagination, Johnson brings to life the story of Kōrero, a young girl who becomes queen amid perilous voyages, shifting loyalties, and the clash between tradition and empire. Hear Johnson discuss the inspirations behind this wondrous tale of survival, storytelling, and the search for home.

About the Book
Talking corpses, poetic parrots, and a fan that wafts the breath of life—this is the world young Kōrero finds herself thrust into when a mysterious visitor lands on her island, a place so remote its inhabitants have forgotten the word for stranger. Her people are desperate and on the brink of starvation, and the wayward stranger offers them an impossible choice: they can remain in the only home they’ve ever known and await the uncertainty to come, or Kōrero can join him and venture into unfamiliar waters, guided by only the night sky and his assurance of a bountiful future in the Kingdom of Tonga. What Kōrero and her people don’t know is that the promised refuge is no utopia—instead, Tonga is an empire at war and on the verge of collapse, a place where brains are regularly liberated from skulls and souls get trapped in coconuts with some frequency.
The perils of Tonga are compounded by a royal feud: loyalties are shifting, graves are being opened, and everyone lives in fear of a jellyfish tattoo. Here, survival can rest on a perfectly performed dance or the acceptance of a cup of kava. Together, the stranger and Kōrero embark upon an epic voyage—one that will deliver them either to salvation or to the depths of the Pacific.
Evoking the grandeur of Wolf Hall and the splendor of Shōgun, the Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Adam Johnson conjures oral history, restores the natural world, and locates what’s best in humanity. Toweringly ambitious and breathtakingly immersive, The Wayfinder is an instant, timeless classic.

$10 for members, $20 for Non-Members

Processing fees may apply**

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Mechanics' Institute