Showing titles in African American

The House of Erzulie tells the eerily intertwined stories of an ill-fated young couple in the 1850s and the troubled historian who discovers their writings in the present day. Emilie St. Ange, daughter of a Creole slaveowning family in Louisiana, rebels against her parents by embracing spiritualism and advocating the abolition of slavery. Isidore, her biracial, French-born husband, is horrified by the brutalities of plantation life and becomes unhinged by an obsessive affair with a notorious New Orleans vodou practitioner.

After the death of his father, a young journalist named Faruq Zaidi takes the opportunity to embed himself in a mysterious cult based in the California redwoods and known as “the nameless,” whose strikingly attractive members adhere to the 18 Utterances, including teachings such as “all suffering is distortion” and “see only beauty.”

Hassan Black, money man for the Black Mayhem Mafia, is known for his wild and reckless behavior. Out of his brothers, Hassan is the one that often finds himself bringing the most trouble to the family. Even though he has his vices and demons, like all men, Hassan has positive qualities that make him an asset not only to the family business but women as well. The playboy, Hassan has more women than he can juggle…but he’s willing to discard of them all if it means securing the love of Vanna Lewis.

I have a lot on my plate, and the last thing I need right now is a relationship. Even if it means staying away from the one woman that stars in all my fantasies. I have my sisters to raise and my career as a tattoo artist to grow, which means women should be a distant thought. Well, until the night of the gala. I should have known Ash Lincoln was going to tempt me. I can’t stay away from her no matter how hard I try. Now we have to face the reality of our night together.

For the first time, a single volume brings together renowned author Terry McMillan’s previously published short fiction and nonfiction pieces, as well as never-before-seen works. Before McMillan found success as a novelist in the early 1990s, she published provocative, boundary-pushing short stories, capturing the struggles and triumphs of Black life in America with vitality and honesty, from the workaday factory man’s malaise in “The End” to the cast-aside lover’s resolve in “Touching” to the elderly woman’s wiles in “Ma’Dear.”

Esther, a painter living in Jamaica and recovering from the death of her husband, comes across a man on a mountain road with no memory of his past. As a hurricane rushes towards the island, she shelters the handsome stranger, names him “Monty”, and tries to uncover the mystery of his missing memory. She soon finds herself falling in love with a man she barely knows, and who doesn’t even know himself. The Mountain and the Sea is a romantic tale about letting go of the past and embracing the present.

In South Africa, the future looks promising. Personal robots are making life easier for the working class. The government is harnessing renewable energy to provide infrastructure for the poor. And in the bustling coastal town of Port Elizabeth, the economy is booming thanks to the genetic engineering industry that has found a welcome home there. Yes, the days to come are looking very good for South Africans. That is, if they can survive the present challenges.

Life for Easy is uncharacteristically...easy. He's set up his own agency and is about to propose to his sweetheart, Bonnie. But all that changes when his old friend, Mouse - one of the deadliest men in America - appears at his door, asking for a small favour. The favour is to help the son of a friend of Charcoal Joe who has been wrongly imprisoned. Charcoal Joe is a mythical figure in LA, a man who pulls all the strings but is known to very few.

Three years after narrowly escaping a one way trip to the gas chamber, the fugitive known only as Animal finds himself drawn back to the scene of the crime: Harlem. Throughout his entire time in exile, the only thing that kept Animal going was the thought that he would one day be reunited with his soul mate, Gucci - but one bullet changed everything. When his enemies tried to murder Gucci, they crossed the line, so he vowed to cross them all.

Jane Edwards hasn’t spoken since she was eleven years old, when armed riders expelled her family from their hometown along with every other Black resident. Now, twelve years later, she’s found a haven in the all-Black town of Awenasa. But the construction of a dam promises to wash her home under the waters of the new lake. Jane will do anything to save the community that sheltered her. So, when a man with uncanny abilities arrives in town asking strange questions, she wonders if he might be the key.

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908) was the greatest writer ever to come from Brazil and one of the masters of nineteenth-century fiction. Susan Sontag calls him "the greatest writer ever produced in Latin America", surpassing even Borges. Harold Bloom says that Machado is "the supreme black literary artist to date". And Allen Ginsburg calls him "another Kafka". And The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas is his masterpiece, a dazzling, tragic, and profound novel that belongs next to the greatest works of his contemporaries Melville and Dostoevsky.

Recently divorced and fresh off a Pulitzer Prize win, Harper Stewart is in a new era. He’s working on a movie and living the ultimate bachelor life in his Brooklyn penthouse. But still, something is missing. What else explains the stubborn creative block? The carousel of women? And seventh-wheel status with his friends? Jordan Armstrong had to flee New York. First, to give herself distance from Harper and, second, to escape the corporate grind. In her beachfront Malibu property, the façade of a “healed” Jordan flourishes.

It was supposed to be a romantic getaway to New York City. Breanna's new boyfriend, Ty, took care of everything – the train tickets, the sightseeing itinerary, the four-story Jersey City rowhouse with the gorgeous view of the Manhattan skyline. But then Bree wakes up one morning and discovers recently missing dog-walker Janelle Beckett dead in the foyer. As the police and a social media mob close in, all looking for #Justice4Janelle, Bree realises that the only way she can stay out of jail is if she finds out what really happened that night.

Growing up deaf in a family that ignored her caused Nakyra to embrace the silence. When she meets Rome, she believes she's found the one, and after years of being together, the two decide it's time to finally tie the knot when tragedy hits. Then he comes into the picture, and her whole world is suddenly flipped upside down. No matter how forbidden he might be, she can't seem to ignore the feelings forming for him. Everything she thought she knew is suddenly being tested and leaves her conflicted.

Based on the life of cornet player Buddy Bolden, one of the legendary jazz pioneers of turn-of-the-twentieth-century New Orleans, Coming Through Slaughter is an extraordinary recreation of a remarkable musical life and a tragic conclusion. Through a collage of memoirs, interviews, imaginary conversations and monologues, Ondaatje builds a picture of a man who would work by day at a barber shop and by night unleash his talent to wild audiences who had never experienced such playing. But Buddy was also playing the field with two women, and inside his head was a ticking time-bomb.

It’s Me They Follow is an allegorical love story set in a not so distant past. It follows The Shopkeeper, a bookseller and reluctant matchmaker. Helping others find love through books comes easily for The Shopkeeper, until it is time for her to find love for herself. She secretly yearns for her first customer, ME, who took both her most prized book and a piece of her heart when he left. But just when she begins to lose hope, she discovers that she may hold the key to her own happily ever after as well.

Born the daughter of an enslaved woman and a Louisiana plantation owner, Jeannette Bébinn is raised alongside her white half sister—until her father suddenly dies. His vindictive wife refuses twelve-year-old Jeannette her inheritance and sells her into slavery. Now on her own, Jeannette must fight the injustices she faces because of her mixed race. She escapes enslavement and travels from Mississippi to Philadelphia to New York to Ohio, all while searching for purpose, love, and her place in a country torn asunder by the burgeoning Civil War.

The year is 1921, and America is burning. A fire of vice and virtue rages on every shore, and Chicago is its beating heart. Nelly Sawyer is the daughter of the “wealthiest Negro in America”, whose affluence catapulted his family to the heights of Black society. After the unexpected death of her only brother, Nelly becomes the premier debutante overnight. But Nelly has aspirations beyond society influence and marriage.

Seth Garrett's family taught him that anything less than the best simply isn't an option. Now he's out to prove he can be the most successful Garrett - and Rachel McNeal fits the bill. She's pretty, hard-working, good in bed - and willing to finance his dreams. He thinks she's perfect wife material - until he meets her relatives and discovers they're far from perfect. No problem, Seth's got a replacement lined up to give him the good life he's entitled to...

If there’s any one thing Pierre and Logan have in common, it’s their ability to invite snap judgements based on shallow views of who they are. Logan is the privileged only daughter of a respected family whose legacy runs long and deep. Pierre is the moody, orphaned son of big screen royalty who couldn’t possibly live up to the prestige of his pedigree. Or maybe not.