Angela Flournoy’s Friendship Circle

The Book Case

ABC News

Fiction, Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.7 • 913 Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Angela Flournoy’s newest, The Wilderness was on the long list of nominees for the National Book Award, and we believe if you read it, it’s easy to see why. The story of four friends growing apart and together, it’s a lyrical work of real beauty. Over a series of decades, these four friends tell you in their distinct voices about the important turning points in their lives, giving readers a rich glimpse into what makes them who their are. We talk to Angela about her wonderful novel and then we pivot to Writer’s Block, a bookstore with two locations in Florida. Join us. Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned on this week's episode: The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy The Turner House by Angela Flournoy Brown Girls, Brownstones by Paule Marshall Beloved by Toni Morrison Workhorse by Caroline Palmer Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm John Quignores.
0:02.0	Vanessa Guillen, a 20-year-old soldier,
0:05.0	vanishes while on duty at an Army base in Texas.
0:09.0	Her family demands answers.
0:12.0	How can she go missing on a military base?
0:14.0	That's too ridiculous.
0:16.0	The search goes on for months.
0:19.0	Where is Vanessa? And a dark story starts to unfold.
0:25.6	She told her family that she was being sexually harassed
0:29.6	and wasn't reporting it out of fear of retribution and retaliation.
0:34.6	What investigators finally uncover is horrifying.
0:40.0	Find out how one soldier, a beloved sister and daughter, ignited a movement and sparked
0:46.5	a reckoning in the U.S. military.
0:50.0	Listen to Vanished.
0:51.7	What happened to Vanessa?
0:53.6	A new series from ABC Audio in 2020. Listen now Vanished. What happened to Vanessa? A new series from ABC Audio in 2020.
0:57.1	Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
1:05.0	Hello, book casers and book nerds everywhere.
1:12.5	It is a veritable nature flurry outside.
1:15.2	I'm looking at leaves changing.
1:17.4	Well, very slowly, but they're probably changing as we speak.
1:20.6	You know, you only notice it from day to day.
	...

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