WINNER OF THE 2017 DZANC PRIZE FOR FICTION

LONG LIST, CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE, 2018

ERIC HOFFER FOUNDATION NEW HORIZONS AWARD

SECOND PLACE, FRIENDS OF AMERICAN WRITERS AWARD

Wynston Cleave, a black taxi driver on a small Caribbean island, spent years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of the death of a wealthy white tourist. Finally released, he tries to piece his life together working as a bartender and reading literary classics to the unruly cockroaches infesting his taxi. On the anniversary of his arrest, Wynston picks up two white Americans just kicked off a cruise ship. The next day, the ship reports a deadly viral outbreak. As the tourist economy collapses, the island succumbs to riots and a devastating spiral of violence, and Wynston’s fate becomes entwined with that of three strangers: his American passengers and a local named Tremor, the focus of a vicious police manhunt. Narrated by the sharp-witted roaches infesting Wynston’s taxi, The Wonder That Was Ours explores deep racial and class divides through the most unlikely eyes imaginable, taking a unique perspective on prejudice, compassion, and the absurdity of the human experience.

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE WONDER THAT WAS OURS

“Who better to tell a revelatory tale of human fallibility than perhaps the most maligned creatures on Earth? Though their story may be tragic, Alice Hatcher’s cockroaches are witty, companionable, and irresistibly charming storytellers. I will be recommending this sumptuous and deeply empathic novel to all my reader friends.” —Michelle Ross, There's So Much They Haven't Told You

“Hatcher's unique narrators offer a bird's-eye view of history, with all the glory and devastation that entails: an ambitious experiment that ends in an achingly compassionate achievement. This book is funny, warm, and piercingly intelligent—and it will probably break your heart.” —Adrienne Celt, Invitation to a Bonfire and The Daughters

“Don't let the omniscient cockroach narrators scare you. Put down the Roach Out! Listen to the bugs. As the passengers on an off-shore cruise ship fall to a pestilential sickness, the island nation of St. Anne and its people suffer a series of cataclysms. The Wonder That Was Ours is both funny and grim, jaunty and horrifying. The cockroaches lead a masterclass on the ravages of colonialism. They preach something of survival, too, and occasionally even hope.” —Daniel A. Hoyt, This Book Is Not For You

“What an unexpected pleasure...a thoughtful, fresh take on empathy, isolation, fear, and the legacies of colonialism. Professor Cleave, Dave, Helen, Tremor, and, yes, the cockroaches will remain in your hearts and your minds for a long time after finishing this book.” —Chrissy Kolaya, Charmed Particles

“Through chiseled prose, potent imagery, and a cast of narrators who operate as a hat tip to Kafka, Hatcher's comitragic cautionary tale about race and class is impossible to forget.” —Lindsey Drager, The Lost Daughter Collective

"With cleverness and great heart, The Wonder That Was Ours reveals prejudices we didn't know we had and helps us expand our notions of love, empathy, and redemption through a story both traditional and uterly new." —Mark Beauregard, The Whale: A Love Story

Press

Phoebe Mogharei, 7 Surreal Books That Suddenly Seem Relatable, Electric Lit, April 7, 2020.

Review, “Hear the Chorus Underfoot” by Jesi Buell, Heavy Feather Review, June 2019.

Solicited Essay, “Love Letter To My Library,” Pima County Library Newsletter, March 4, 2019.

Interview, Broad Perspectives, KCXI Tucson, March 3, 2019.

Interview, Bill Buckmaster Show, February 19, 2019. (up to 11:00)

Review, 3 Girls Book Club, Episode 124, January 7, 2019 (starts at 44:50).

Fiction Writers Review, “Why the Hell Not?: An Interview with Alice Hatcher” by Michelle Ross, October 1, 2018.

Thin Air Magazine, “Roaches Are Ideal Narrators: An Interview with Alice Hatcher” by Trevor Warren, September 25, 2018.

Medium, “Interview Outtakes” by Katharine Coldiron, September 25, 2018.

Zona Politics, Television Interview with Jim Nintzel, September 7, 2018. 

"Bug-Eyed View" by Jim Nintzel, Tucson Weekly, September 6, 2018. 

"Fifteen Books You Should Read in September," Lit Hub, September 6, 2018. 

"Interview" with Katharine Coldiron, Masters Review Blog, September 5, 2018.

"Review," by Helene Woodhams, Arizona Daily Star, September 1, 2018.

"10 Books We're Looking Forward to This Summer," Masters Review Blog, July 6, 2018.

Novel Excerpt, Cagibi (July 2018)

“Book Notes” and “Novel Playlist,” Largehearted Boy (online, September 4, 2018)

"The Metamorphosis of Graham Greene: The Origins of a Collective Cockroach Narrator," quoted in the Writers Studio Newsletter announcement, "Writers Studio Alum on Long List for First Novel Prize" (June 2018)

Kirkus Reviews, "Review, The Wonder That Was Ours," July 1, 2018.