Looking to read more books written by women of color to your bookshelves? Looking to consume more stories with Black characters and narratives? Here are two powerful debut novels to add to your to-read pile this summer! 

Two powerhouse debut novelists, two phenomenal novels, one summer  ripe for reading them both. Take the time to read These Ghosts are Family and Saving Ruby King, then join us for a conversation between the two authors! 


Named a Most Anticipated Book for 2020 and praised as an ambitious, keenly observant novel by Publishers Weekly, Saving Ruby King is an

epic, enthralling story set in the South Side of Chicago of a young woman determined to protect her best friend and a deadly secret that threatens to undermine both of their families.

 

When Ruby King’s mother is found murdered in their home in Chicago’s South Side, the police dismiss it as another act of violence in a black neighborhood. But for Ruby, it means she’ll be living alone with her violent father. The only person who understands the gravity of her situation is Ruby’s best friend Layla. Their closeness is tested when Layla’s father, the pastor of their church, demands that Layla stay away. But what is the price for turning a blind eye? A crucial pilgrimage through the racially divided landscape of Chicago, Saving Ruby King  explores the ways in which history doesn't determine the present and how the bonds of friendship can forever shape the future.



Praised as rich, layered, and compelling by reviewers and  named a Top New Book of the New Decade by Buzz Magazine, These Ghosts Are Family reveals the ways in which a Jamaican family forms and fractures over generations, in the tradition of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Stanford Solomon’s shocking, thirty-year-old secret is about to change the lives of everyone around him. Stanford has done something no one could ever imagine. He is a man who faked his own death and stole the identity of his best friend. Stanford Solomon is actually Abel Paisley.

And now, nearing the end of his life, Stanford is about to meet his firstborn daughter, Irene Paisley, a home health aide who has unwittingly shown up for her first day of work to tend to the father she thought was dead.

These Ghosts Are Family revolves around the consequences of Abel’s decision and tells the story of the Paisley family from colonial Jamaica to present-day Harlem.

The store is not open to in-person events, so we are hosting this as a Zoom webinar event. Please click this link to join us.