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Rabbit, Fox, Tar: A Novel
A mesmerizing, fable-like debut novel about a mysterious young Black woman whose arrival in an insular neighborhood threatens to shake its foundations
When Baby appears in Original Hill, her name is on everyone's lips. A young Black woman is a rare sight in this part of town, and she sits all day on the Foxes’ garden wall, swinging her bare feet and speaking to no one. That is, until the charismatic Lucius “Lucky” Foote comes along and touches her, sparking their romance. Arm-in-arm with Baby, who seems to exert a seemingly supernatural pull on the other residents, Lucky is confident he will secure the open city council seat away from Baby’s uncle Eugene Fox, the back-from-retirement white incumbent.
With protestors reopening old wounds around the Black neighborhood that was leveled by the nearby highway decades ago and Lucky threatening his position, Fox believes it’s not just a city council seat at stake, but the “soul” of Original Hill.
As Baby is woven further into the unraveling community, she begins to stray from Fox’s strict rules and question everything, from where she came from to who—and what—she truly is.
When Baby appears in Original Hill, her name is on everyone's lips. A young Black woman is a rare sight in this part of town, and she sits all day on the Foxes’ garden wall, swinging her bare feet and speaking to no one. That is, until the charismatic Lucius “Lucky” Foote comes along and touches her, sparking their romance. Arm-in-arm with Baby, who seems to exert a seemingly supernatural pull on the other residents, Lucky is confident he will secure the open city council seat away from Baby’s uncle Eugene Fox, the back-from-retirement white incumbent.
With protestors reopening old wounds around the Black neighborhood that was leveled by the nearby highway decades ago and Lucky threatening his position, Fox believes it’s not just a city council seat at stake, but the “soul” of Original Hill.
As Baby is woven further into the unraveling community, she begins to stray from Fox’s strict rules and question everything, from where she came from to who—and what—she truly is.
299 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 2, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
July 25, 2026
I wish I could say I loved this book, and there were elements that I thought were innovative, exciting, compelling, but there were also parts where it just dragged and felt repetitive. Full review to follow.
August 12, 2026
An MFA book: technically well-written but lacking a certain soul (ironically, iykyk). The book’s front and back caps shine, but the mystery in the middle panders to everyone and no one. Really, the fable would have benefitted from less sleuthing and more mysticism, but maybe I’ve just got my head stuck in the speculative sand. Still excited for the author discussion I’m going to. Verrone’s got great ideas but they’re muddled by length and even readability.
June 11, 2026
The premise really drew me in because of themes suggest it’d explore gentrification, politics, and race. However, I found this to be…okay? I think I was hoping for a bit more and for the prose to be tighter. Like, I could see the direction the author was going for but I’m not too sure if it was translated too well for me. There were some things that I do believe could’ve been explored better, but I still found this to be somewhat enjoyable despite its shortcomings.
August 23, 2026
Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana, but the mediocre, unnecessarily extended version.
July 2, 2026
Guaooooo. Big fan of the shifting perspectives and writing styles. I found it to be tense, lyrical and mysterious. Reading the second to last chapter was truly captivating, i feel like I could almost hear Morrison. The ending and the beginning were a bit too story book for me but hey you’re gonna get that when you mess with folktales! Genuinely found myself sucked into the story, and I highly recommend!!
June 15, 2026
Interesting read, out of my normal genre comfort zone. Definately a unique novel with much symbolism that evolves with unfolding folklore. Much like the draw to the main character, this story will stick and leave me thinking about it long after it’s gone.
June 28, 2026
3.5 rounded up, i think! recommended by mj 🤍
August 10, 2026
Really unique take on racial themes and gentrification using a brer rabbit tale I remember from childhood that was a little too laborious to read/ follow. I suspect I will continue to think about it.
June 9, 2026
Mix Mexican Gothic, Beloved and Brer Rabbit's Tar Baby. Equal parts folklore and social commentary, the author read all of Toni Morrison while writing this book and it shows. Phenomenal read.
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April 16, 2026There were a couple of interesting ideas in here, especially the setup between the rabbit and fox dynamics, and the strange “tar” element had potential. But the execution didn’t land. The dialogue felt flat in places, and I didn’t really believe the emotional moments. Still, I can see what the author was aiming for. It just needed tighter writing and more focus. Not a total miss, but hard to stay engaged.
August 10, 2026
“To be human is to decide that one is human, form and substance be damned. I was wrong about the things you know being unchangeable. You change things by knowing them. You name them anew.”
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This book was published in the US by Catapult on June 2, 2026.
Rabbit, Fox, Tar opens with the Original Hill neighborhood ablaze with gossip. A mysterious young Black woman named Baby has appeared on an old man’s garden wall, disrupting the manicured peace of a wealthy, “lily-white” neighborhood. When charismatic Black city councilman Lucky Foote touches her, the world seems to reset its pieces. Their encounter draws Baby into a struggle over Original Hill’s future and the Black community the neighborhood was built to bury.
P.C. Verrone’s lyrical, fable-like prose allows houses, trees, dust, tar, and once-living materials to speak alongside the novel’s human characters. It took me a moment to fall into the rhythm of the storytelling, but once I did, I couldn’t put this down. Original Hill and its inhabitants are rendered vividly through Southern Gothic unease, magical realism, sharp social satire, and imagery that makes the past feel physically alive beneath the present.
Verrone examines how white wealth and suburban respectability depend upon displacement, destruction, and deliberate forgetting. Lucky’s carefully constructed identity reveals racial assimilation as a performance offering conditional access to power, but only while he remains disconnected from his Blackness, his community, and his queer desire. Meanwhile, Baby’s search for personhood interrogates the violence of being created, categorized, desired, and needed by others. Her story asks whether identity belongs to those who name us or whether we can name ourselves anew.
This felt like Toni Morrison meets Shirley Jackson, with a splash of The Virgin Suicides. Through Black folklore, ancestral knowledge, and land-based memory, Verrone exhumes the histories buried beneath highways and whitewashed neighborhoods. Strange, sensual, and politically incisive, Rabbit, Fox, Tar is by far one of the best books I’ve read this year.
📖 Read this if you love: Southern Gothic fiction, haunting fable-like storytelling, sentient landscapes, morally complicated characters, and stories in which buried histories refuse to stay buried.
🔑 Key Themes: Black Identity and Personhood, Racial Assimilation and Respectability Politics, Self-Determination and the Power of Naming, Black Folklore and Ancestral Knowledge, Intergenerational Trauma, Community Resistance and Reparations.
Content / Trigger Warnings: Child Death (severe), Death (moderate), Fire (moderate), Drug Use (moderate), Racism (moderate), Animal Death (minor), Domestic Abuse (minor), Sexual Content (minor), Parent Death (minor), Blood (minor).
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This book was published in the US by Catapult on June 2, 2026.
Rabbit, Fox, Tar opens with the Original Hill neighborhood ablaze with gossip. A mysterious young Black woman named Baby has appeared on an old man’s garden wall, disrupting the manicured peace of a wealthy, “lily-white” neighborhood. When charismatic Black city councilman Lucky Foote touches her, the world seems to reset its pieces. Their encounter draws Baby into a struggle over Original Hill’s future and the Black community the neighborhood was built to bury.
P.C. Verrone’s lyrical, fable-like prose allows houses, trees, dust, tar, and once-living materials to speak alongside the novel’s human characters. It took me a moment to fall into the rhythm of the storytelling, but once I did, I couldn’t put this down. Original Hill and its inhabitants are rendered vividly through Southern Gothic unease, magical realism, sharp social satire, and imagery that makes the past feel physically alive beneath the present.
Verrone examines how white wealth and suburban respectability depend upon displacement, destruction, and deliberate forgetting. Lucky’s carefully constructed identity reveals racial assimilation as a performance offering conditional access to power, but only while he remains disconnected from his Blackness, his community, and his queer desire. Meanwhile, Baby’s search for personhood interrogates the violence of being created, categorized, desired, and needed by others. Her story asks whether identity belongs to those who name us or whether we can name ourselves anew.
This felt like Toni Morrison meets Shirley Jackson, with a splash of The Virgin Suicides. Through Black folklore, ancestral knowledge, and land-based memory, Verrone exhumes the histories buried beneath highways and whitewashed neighborhoods. Strange, sensual, and politically incisive, Rabbit, Fox, Tar is by far one of the best books I’ve read this year.
📖 Read this if you love: Southern Gothic fiction, haunting fable-like storytelling, sentient landscapes, morally complicated characters, and stories in which buried histories refuse to stay buried.
🔑 Key Themes: Black Identity and Personhood, Racial Assimilation and Respectability Politics, Self-Determination and the Power of Naming, Black Folklore and Ancestral Knowledge, Intergenerational Trauma, Community Resistance and Reparations.
Content / Trigger Warnings: Child Death (severe), Death (moderate), Fire (moderate), Drug Use (moderate), Racism (moderate), Animal Death (minor), Domestic Abuse (minor), Sexual Content (minor), Parent Death (minor), Blood (minor).
August 15, 2026
𝑹𝑨𝑩𝑩𝑰𝑻, 𝑭𝑶𝑿, 𝑻𝑨𝑹 𝒃𝒚 𝑷.𝑪. 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆, a @catapult publication that is available now!
I vaguely remember the story of Briar Rabbit in the children's book form, but as many retellings do, this tale reimagines it in an artfully layered, contemporary way.
Baby appears one day, sitting on the garden wall of Eugene Foxe's home. Many in Original Hill are curious about the Black Woman, but Eugene simply states that she is his niece, and everyone seems placated.
Lucky Foote is the one person she seems to be able to speak to, as the only other Black person in Original Hill. When he touches her, a strong pull emerges and the romance of Baby to the incumbent city councilman seems not to bother Lucky even though Foxe is his competition for the seat and "soul" of the town.
Add in the history of how Original Hill came to be and the continual search of Baby's to find her purpose beyond the needs she feels makes this a fable with depth.
I love how bookclub attendees bring so much insight, perspectives, and even point out the obvious things I miss, like the way all the families had tree/plant names. The discussion was rich and I feel like it helped me understand the ending more.
I'm so glad we were recommended this book by @Watermarkbooksandcafe and I definitely recommend this debut! Check the next slide to see next month's pick!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
I vaguely remember the story of Briar Rabbit in the children's book form, but as many retellings do, this tale reimagines it in an artfully layered, contemporary way.
Baby appears one day, sitting on the garden wall of Eugene Foxe's home. Many in Original Hill are curious about the Black Woman, but Eugene simply states that she is his niece, and everyone seems placated.
Lucky Foote is the one person she seems to be able to speak to, as the only other Black person in Original Hill. When he touches her, a strong pull emerges and the romance of Baby to the incumbent city councilman seems not to bother Lucky even though Foxe is his competition for the seat and "soul" of the town.
Add in the history of how Original Hill came to be and the continual search of Baby's to find her purpose beyond the needs she feels makes this a fable with depth.
I love how bookclub attendees bring so much insight, perspectives, and even point out the obvious things I miss, like the way all the families had tree/plant names. The discussion was rich and I feel like it helped me understand the ending more.
I'm so glad we were recommended this book by @Watermarkbooksandcafe and I definitely recommend this debut! Check the next slide to see next month's pick!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
August 11, 2026
Verrone's novel is a variation on the Brer Rabbit and Tar Baby story - one that Disney made popular in a short that appeared in Song of the South. Song of the South is not coming out of the vault for very good reasons, but you can find the animated shorts various places. Disney's version is based on the tale as it was collected by Joel Chandler Harris, a white man who retold tales he had heard in the enslaved people's quarters. These are better known as a the Uncle Remus stories. You can easily find these online or various free ebook formats. I would, however, recommend reading The Annotated African American Folktales edited by Maria Tatar and Henry Lewis Gates Jr.
Verrone's novel does have some slow points but it works because it is about what makes a person a person as well as politics, holding on to power, and what the rich can do to the poor (along racial and other lines). All the characters are rather well developed and it makes good use of the fable.
Verrone's novel does have some slow points but it works because it is about what makes a person a person as well as politics, holding on to power, and what the rich can do to the poor (along racial and other lines). All the characters are rather well developed and it makes good use of the fable.
August 16, 2026
P. C. Verrone uses inspiration from the story of Br'er Rabbit to tell a story of gentrification, displacement, and political ambition and chicanery.
Our "fox" is Eugene Fox, a retired white former city councilor in Original Hill, the tony, "preservationist" neighborhood of the Midwestern city in which the book is set.
Our "rabbit" is Lucius "Lucky" Foote, who is the young, charming, up-and-coming Black city councilor that Fox is challenging. Despite the lingering controversy following a decision from the city several decades ago to raze a once-thriving Black neighborhood to make way for a highway, including resident organizing for reparations, Lucky makes peace with the city's white establishment and actively courts their support.
And our "tar" is Baby, the beautiful young Black woman with somewhat anachronistic clothing who sits on Fox's wall, is presented as his niece, and immediately enchants Lucky.
As the book unfolds from different perspectives (including Fox's wife and a Black community elder), we learn more about what is actually going on between these three and more about the origins of the mysterious Baby.
Our "fox" is Eugene Fox, a retired white former city councilor in Original Hill, the tony, "preservationist" neighborhood of the Midwestern city in which the book is set.
Our "rabbit" is Lucius "Lucky" Foote, who is the young, charming, up-and-coming Black city councilor that Fox is challenging. Despite the lingering controversy following a decision from the city several decades ago to raze a once-thriving Black neighborhood to make way for a highway, including resident organizing for reparations, Lucky makes peace with the city's white establishment and actively courts their support.
And our "tar" is Baby, the beautiful young Black woman with somewhat anachronistic clothing who sits on Fox's wall, is presented as his niece, and immediately enchants Lucky.
As the book unfolds from different perspectives (including Fox's wife and a Black community elder), we learn more about what is actually going on between these three and more about the origins of the mysterious Baby.
June 7, 2026
What is the soul of a community? What legacies exist in a shifting landscape? Who gets to make these decisions, the predecessors or inheritors?
This book shows us the power of narratives, the stories we tell about ourselves, molding and reinforcing those expectations.
It's well-written in the same technical way any MFA cohort book is, with some lovely passages. That being said, there is a lot of foot talk. Foote is into feet.
I worked out who Baby was fairly early on, so the middle part of the book felt like backfill. The incremental shift in tense was interesting, moving us closer in. I did think the second person got a bit muddled in Auntie Riri's part, going from "you" to using her name between scenes.
The ending was a little too neat, bittersweet though it was. Too individualized, but there are hints of broader changes on the horizon.
I once heard someone say, "New Orleans is Black, and it's queer," and this book reminded me of that.
This book shows us the power of narratives, the stories we tell about ourselves, molding and reinforcing those expectations.
It's well-written in the same technical way any MFA cohort book is, with some lovely passages. That being said, there is a lot of foot talk. Foote is into feet.
I worked out who Baby was fairly early on, so the middle part of the book felt like backfill. The incremental shift in tense was interesting, moving us closer in. I did think the second person got a bit muddled in Auntie Riri's part, going from "you" to using her name between scenes.
The ending was a little too neat, bittersweet though it was. Too individualized, but there are hints of broader changes on the horizon.
I once heard someone say, "New Orleans is Black, and it's queer," and this book reminded me of that.
August 22, 2026
I recieved this from a Goodreads giveaway, thanks Goodreads and P.C. Verrone for the opportunity to read "Rabbit, Fox, Tar"!
3.5/5 ⭐️: Reminiscent of Toni Morrison's "Beloved", I found "Rabbit, Fox, Tar" to be a mysterious, folksy, and literary classic type story. I really enjoyed Verrone's writing, especially when we were given the perspective of Baby. I am also a big fan of the themes at play here (identity, reclaimation). Though I enjoyed the book overall, the last 1/3 of the book is when things really begin to descend into a madness that was just so interesting and I just had to keep reading until the end. And even though it was not super super in your face (as I love queer stories to be), I did enjoy and appreciate the subtle nod to queer representation. My one gripe is that I would've loved for the acknowledgement section to list specific references that Verrone pulled for Sankofa/Original Hill because I would love to learn more about the history he was pulling from.
3.5/5 ⭐️: Reminiscent of Toni Morrison's "Beloved", I found "Rabbit, Fox, Tar" to be a mysterious, folksy, and literary classic type story. I really enjoyed Verrone's writing, especially when we were given the perspective of Baby. I am also a big fan of the themes at play here (identity, reclaimation). Though I enjoyed the book overall, the last 1/3 of the book is when things really begin to descend into a madness that was just so interesting and I just had to keep reading until the end. And even though it was not super super in your face (as I love queer stories to be), I did enjoy and appreciate the subtle nod to queer representation. My one gripe is that I would've loved for the acknowledgement section to list specific references that Verrone pulled for Sankofa/Original Hill because I would love to learn more about the history he was pulling from.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
One of my first reads of the year but I already know that it will be making it onto my list of 2026 new release recommendations. A creative and compelling take on the ever-evolving and multifaceted work of reparations for the destruction of vibrant Black communities intentionally destabilized, displaced, and demolished by the US interstate highway system. Verrone expertly combines character study and unique narrative styles to weave a poignant social commentary without feeling didactic or sanctimonious. The gradual escalation of preternatural and folk magic elements feels earned and elevates the novel's themes without distracting from them or hindering the quality of the character work.
June 17, 2026
This is a marvelous work of fiction--if you like comparisons, then it's "Beloved" crossed with "The Snow Child." If you hate comparisons, then it's a truly exciting new exploration of the Tar Baby fable. I loved that I had no idea where it was going--it's fast, at times funny, at times heartbreaking, and really, really incisive in its insights into love, attachment, urban development, grief, and a whole bunch of other things. Read it!
July 9, 2026
One sentence summary: A woman arrives in a uppity town and all hell breaks loose.
Themes: gentrification; retellings; humanity; racism
Review: I was all in on this book in the first several chapters. But then it lost me. The story went off the rails when the speculative became too literal. I feel like P.C. Verrone had several good ideas but confused them by putting them all in one book. It was inventive so because of that I think this author I'll continue to follow.
Themes: gentrification; retellings; humanity; racism
Review: I was all in on this book in the first several chapters. But then it lost me. The story went off the rails when the speculative became too literal. I feel like P.C. Verrone had several good ideas but confused them by putting them all in one book. It was inventive so because of that I think this author I'll continue to follow.
August 19, 2026
The opening gave me a few reasons to stay hopeful, but those early promises were not rewarded in a satisfying way. I could see the connections between the setup and where the book eventually went, yet the payoff didn’t feel strong enough to justify the expectations created at the beginning. Too much of what initially seemed meaningful lost its weight along the way. I wanted the ending to make the early promise feel worthwhile, but it never quite got there.
June 17, 2026
This is like a bucket of tar, a mess!! I am sure their are some redeeming qualities about race relations, gentrification, classic highway placement social fabric destruction and "the soul" but too much hiding by everyone about most things. The most desired neighborhood turns out to be a fraud and that's the tip of the iceberg. Oh well.
July 26, 2026
Very intriguing and interesting read! I didn’t know what to expect because it had just been released.
Historical fiction but magical realism at the same time? I would definitely recommend if you’re looking to read something different.
Historical fiction but magical realism at the same time? I would definitely recommend if you’re looking to read something different.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Gorgeously lyrical, supremely interesting, and fantastically well-written. every element of this was quite interesting. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.
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July 1, 2026mysterious girl turns out to be made of tar and drives a whole neighborhood insane with desire to touch her.
July 2, 2026
I enjoyed this quite a bit! I liked the reimagining of this classic fable, and the exploration of modern themes. 4.5 for me
July 4, 2026
Wonderful book.
July 17, 2026
4.5 ⭐️
A mystical narrative akin to the likes of Beloved. The story weaves into such a mysterious and compelling puzzle of people and events, I absolutely devoured the second half.
A mystical narrative akin to the likes of Beloved. The story weaves into such a mysterious and compelling puzzle of people and events, I absolutely devoured the second half.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews