Tiburon author's debut novel explores sociopolitical othering through lens of genetics

Sheri T. Joseph at her Tiburon home in her daughter’s childhood bedroom, which she now uses as her office. Joseph released her debut novel, ‘Edge of the Known World,’ on Sept. 3. (Leo Leung / For The Ark)

A refusé, explains Tiburon author Sheri T. Joseph, is someone who flees their home country and isn’t allowed to return but isn’t allowed into another country either. She coined the word to describe the protagonist of her debut novel, inspired in part by Soviet Jewish refuseniks who weren’t allowed to leave the country and by the U.S. “wet foot, dry foot” policy between 1995 and 2017, when emigrating Cubans who landed on American soil were allowed to stay, but those caught in American waters were sent back or to other nations.

In Joseph’s political thriller, “Edge of the Known World,” protagonist Alexandra Tashen navigates life as one of those refusés, trying to avoid getting caught in a country that wouldn’t have let her enter in the first place. Published Sept. 3, the book has already won top accolades for political thriller, science fiction and new fiction at the 2024 American Fiction Awards.

Joseph, 68, will discuss the book with son Kevin Joseph, vice president of development for actor Chris Hemsworth’s Wild State production company, on Sept. 22 at Book Passage in Corte Madera.

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