The New People

“Uptmor moves through examinations of privilege and identity, extraction and gentrification, politics and parenthood, holding it all with a delicate sense of emotion….With a sharp sense of humor and wry insights into the many ways the myth of the American Dream leaves victims in its wake. The New People is a carefully crafted story of what makes a house a home: the people that share it, to be sure, but also the community built (or not) around it and the many marks left, both good and bad, on the spaces inhabited.” 

“Uptmor’s ambitious first novel renders the dangers of divisiveness, rigidity, and lack of communication through the experience of two married couples who could not be less alike…Moments of high comedy and real pathos ensue...Using upbeat escapism, Uptmor confounds expectations to expose the darker realities of American life.”

“The heart of this book is about marriage: what it is, what it has been, and what it can be….Uptmor skillfully weaves Charlotte and Emma’s perspectives to both mirror and conflict with each other. [I] Recommend this debut to anyone interested in the micro-interactions that can make or break a relationship.”

“Uptmor explores what happens to a couple incapable of communicating as they try to keep their heads above water financially. It’s sincere and doesn’t shy away from the painful, intimate moments and leans into the absurdity that can unfold when people go from happy to miserable.”

“Assured…Uptmor offers perceptive insights into the women’s feelings of inadequacy and exclusion. This weighty novel will move readers.”

“The New People is a riveting story of precarity and privilege, told with great tenderness and imagination by a master storyteller. I loved reading about the intertwined lives of these two couples as they struggle to find sources of love and resilience in a world shifting beneath their feet. Andrea Uptmor has written the novel of the affordability crisis. A timely, propulsive, and big-hearted debut.”

"Andrea Uptmor’s The New People is a delicate exploration of humanity in all its forms, touching on infertility, addiction, grief, and love with real awareness and pathos."

"This is a book of wonders…With its suspenseful story, the novel tells us about people who live in hiding, and how we live or try to live now, visibly or invisibly. Its characters and their secrets will stay with you long after you turn the last page.”

"Andrea Uptmor’s The New People is centered on two of the most pressing questions we face as human beings: where and with whom do we feel at home? A deeply tender, spirit-lifting portrait of what happens when we lose the things we think define us and discover that we are made of oh so much more."