Black History in Fiction: 2023
From historical fiction to fantasy to romance to thrillers, in settings that range from ancient Africa through the Civil War and Civil Rights era, this varied list of adult fiction published over the last year explores and evokes the rich array of Black history. (January 2023)
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Carolina Built
This inspiring novel is based on the life of North Carolina real estate magnate Josephine N. Leary, a freed plantation slave who taught herself how to be a business woman, manage her finances, make smart investments and to ultimately become a successful entrepreneur.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Door of No Return
When his brother represents Upper Kwanta in a wrestling contest, resulting in the unthinkable, 11-year-old Kofi finds himself fighting for his life, which sends him on a dangerous journey across land and sea, and away from everything he loves. Though written for young readers, this verse novel - first in a series - is too good for adults to miss.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Scent of Burnt Flowers
In 1965 Alabama, a newly engaged Black couple, after one fateful turns them into fugitives, seek asylum in Ghana where an encounter a Highlife musician, which starts a journey of lust, magic and danger that ends in chaos as they each must confront their secrets and each other.
Format: Large Print
Availability: Available
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In the Face of the Sun
At the height of the Civil Rights Movement amidst an America convulsed by the 1960s, a pregnant young woman and her brash, profane aunt embark upon an audacious road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles to confront a decades-old mystery from 1920’s Black Hollywood.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Thread Collectors
In 1863, an ingenious young Black woman, who embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army, crosses paths with a Jewish seamstress who helps her discover that even the most delicate threads have the capacity to save us.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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By Her Own Design
Less than a week before the society wedding of the year where Jacqueline Bouvier will marry John F. Kennedy, a pipe bursts at Ann Lowe’s dress shop and ruins eleven dresses, including the expensive wedding dress, a dress that will be judged by thousands. A Black designer who has fought every step of the way, Ann knows this is only one struggle after a lifetime of them.
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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The Light Always Breaks
In her distinctive Southern literary style, award-winning author Angela Jackson-Brown delivers a moving story of a star-crossed romance in 1947 Washington DC, and the way love has the power to change everything
Format: Large Print
Availability: Available
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The House of Eve
1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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A Woman of Endurance
This absorbing and complex novel illuminates a little discussed aspect of history--the Puerto Rican Atlantic Slave Trade--witnessed through the experiences of Pola, an African captive used as a breeder to bear more slaves.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Empty Vows
A popular, generous forty-something widow in Lexington, Alabama decides to make herself indispensable to recently-widowed Hubert Wiggins but is disappointed when he is not everything she'd dreamed he'd be and instead turns her attentions to a much younger man. Sequel to Monroe's "Mrs. Wiggins."
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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