The Strangers by Ekow Eshun is a powerful and genre-blending look at exile, Black identity (and masculinity), and resilience. Focusing on the lives of Ira Aldridge, Matthew Henson, Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, and Justin Fashanu, Eshun explores how each of these men faced a world that struggled to see them as individuals. Through a mix of biography, history, personal reflection, and imagination, the book dives into both the pain of being an outsider and the strength found in resistance and creativity.

The Strangers: Five Extraordinary Black Men and the Worlds That Made Them by Ekow Eshun is a genre-defying, deeply empathetic exploration of Black identity, exile, and resilience. Through the intertwined lives of Ira Aldridge, Matthew Henson, Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, and Justin Fashanu, Eshun examines how each man navigated estrangement in a world that refused to see them as individuals. Blending biography, history, memoir, and imagination, the book captures both the pain of alienation and the beauty of their defiance and creativity. Intimate, expansive, and lyrical, The Strangers is a powerful meditation on race, belonging, and the human search for home. Amazing!