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The blueprint : a novel / by Rashad, Rae Giana,author.;
"Solenne Bonet is DoS--a Descendant of Slave--and has always known that her destiny would be in the service of men. At school, it is what she has been trained for, waiting for an algorithm to assign her to a white man, one of the thousands who sign up to be contract holders. She knows that there are girls who hope to be more than Maid or Mammy, who whisper about how they will get a white man to sign their freedom, how they will be sweet, but not sweet enough that he would be tempted to keep her for good. After her mother pulls strings to get Solenne an assignment as a Council archivist, Solenne attracts the attention of Bastien LeBlanc, a high-ranking white government official and rising star in the Order. He promises to make Solenne his wife, and more importantly, to grant her freedom. She is flattered by his attention and entranced by Bastien's world of power and influence--even if it means ignoring Bastien's beliefs about the need to keep her fellow DoS under strict legislation. She convinces herself that his love is enough, that he will grant her freedom. Five years later, nothing has changed. Solenne is still with Bastien--his lover, his speechwriter, his possession. When he denies her the freedom he promised, she must decide whether to stay or run"--
Subjects: Dystopian fiction.; Novels.; African American women; Concubinage; Slavery;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Conjure women : a novel / by Atakora, Afia,author.;
Conjure Women is a sweeping story that brings the world of the South before and after the Civil War vividly to life. Spanning eras and generations, it tells of the lives of three unforgettable women: Miss May Belle, a wise healing woman; her precocious and observant daughter Rue, who is reluctant to follow in her mother's footsteps as a midwife; and their master's daughter Varina. The secrets and bonds among these women and their community come to a head at the beginning of a war and at the birth of an accursed child, who sets the townspeople alight with fear and a spreading superstition that threatens their newly won, tenuous freedom. Magnificently written, brilliantly researched, richly imagined, Conjure Women moves back and forth in time to tell the haunting story of Rue, Varina, and May Belle, their passions and friendships, and the lengths they will go to save themselves and those they love.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Domestic fiction.; African Americans; Mothers and daughters; Plantation life; Race relations;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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All her little secrets : a novel / by Morris, Wanda M.(Wanda Michelle),1959-author.;
"Everyone has something to hide ... Ellice Littlejohn seemingly has it all: an Ivy League law degree, a well-paying job as a corporate attorney in midtown Atlanta, great friends, and a "for fun" relationship with a rich, charming executive, who just happens to be her white boss. But everything changes one cold January morning when Ellice arrives in the executive suite and finds him dead with a gunshot to his head. And then she walks away like nothing has happened. Why? Ellice has been keeping a cache of dark secrets, including a small-town past and a kid brother who's spent time on the other side of the law. She can't be thrust into the spotlight--again ... When she uncovers shady dealings inside the company, Ellice is trapped in an impossible ethical and moral dilemma. Suddenly, Ellice's past and present lives collide as she launches into a pulse-pounding race to protect the brother she tried to save years ago and stop a conspiracy far more sinister than she could have ever imagined ..."--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Legal fiction (Literature); African American women; Brothers and sisters; Corporate lawyers; Executives; Law firms; Murder; Racism in the workplace; Secrecy; Women lawyers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Anywhere you run : a novel / by Morris, Wanda M.(Wanda Michelle),1959-author.;
It's 1964 and Violet Richards is in more trouble than she's ever been in her life. It was an act of self-defense against her white rapist, Huxley Broadus. But with the color of Violet's skin, there is no way she can escape Jim Crow justice, not in Jackson, Mississippi. Before anyone can find Huxley's body or finger Violet as the killer, she decides to run. With the help of her white beau, Dewey Leonard, a lovesick boy intent on marrying her up North, they make it to Birmingham before she sneaks away and catches a Greyhound bus bound for Washington, D.C. But desperation has her winding up in the small rural town of Chillicothe, Georgia. Back in Jackson, Marigold, Violet's older sister, has dreams of attending law school. But she is in a different kind of trouble: she's pregnant and unmarried. Working for the Mississippi Summer Project, Marigold has been trying to use her smarts to further the cause of the Black vote. But after the Project's lawyer, and her baby's father, abandons her and news of Huxley's murder brings the police to her door, Marigold sees no choice but to marry another man and leave Jackson behind. After a quick marriage, they move to Ohio seeking the promise of a better life and no more segregation. Two sisters on the run, one from the law, the other from social shame. What they don't realize is that there's a man hot on their trail. This man has his own brand of dark secrets and a disturbing motive for finding the sisters that is unknown to everyone but him.
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Historical fiction.; Novels.; African American women; African Americans; African Americans; Fugitives from justice; Secrecy; Sisters; Unmarried mothers; Unplanned pregnancy;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Daughter of the merciful deep / by Penelope, L.,1978-author.;
""Our home began, as all things do, with a wish." 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. But as the stranger hints at gods and ancestral magic, Jane is captivated by a bigger mystery. She knows this man. Only the last time she saw him, he was dead. His body laid to rest in a rushing river. Who is the stranger and what is he really doing in Awenasa? To find those answers, Jane will journey into a sunken world, a land of capricious gods and unsung myths, of salvation and dreams made real. But the flood waters are rising. To gain the miracle she desires, Jane will have to find her voice again and finally face the trauma of the past"--
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Novels.; African American women; Black towns; Dams; Drowning victims; Gods, African; Imaginary places; Magic; Mute persons; Spirits;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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On rotation : a novel / by Obuobi, Shirlene,author.;
Ghanaian-American Angela Appiah has checked off all the boxes for the "Perfect Immigrant Daughter." Enroll in an elite medical school, Snag a suitable lawyer/doctor/engineer boyfriend, Surround self with a gaggle of successful and/or loyal friends. But then it quickly all falls apart: her boyfriend dumps her, she bombs the most important exam of her medical career, and her best friend pulls away. And her parents, whose approval seems to hinge on how closely she follows the path they chose, are a lot less proud of their daughter. It's a quarter life crisis of epic proportions. Angie, who has always faced her problems by working "twice as hard to get half as far," is at a loss. Suddenly, she begins to question everything: her career choice, her friendships, even why she's attracted to men who don't love her as much as she loves them. And just when things couldn't get more complicated, enter Ricky Gutierrez--brilliant, thoughtful, sexy, and most importantly, seems to see Angie for who she is instead of what she can represent. Unfortunately, he's also got "wasteman" practically tattooed across his forehead, and Angie's done chasing mirages of men. Or so she thinks. For someone who's always been in control, Angie realizes that there's one thing she can't plan on: matters of her heart.
Subjects: Bildungsromans.; Novels.; African American women; Children of immigrants; Man-woman relationships; Women medical students;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Harlem after midnight / by Hare, Louise,author.;
"A body falls from a town house window in Harlem, and it looks just like the newest singer at the Apollo ... in this evocative, twisting new novel from the author of Miss Aldridge Regrets. Harlem, 1936: Lena Aldridge grew up in a cramped corner of London, hearing stories of the bright lights of Broadway. She always imagined that when she finally went to New York City, she'd be there with her father. But now he's dead, and she's newly arrived and alone, chasing a dream that has quickly dried up. When Will Goodman-the handsome musician she met on the crossing from England-offers for her to stay with his friends in Harlem, she agrees. She has nowhere else to go, and this will give her a chance to get to know Will better and see if she can find any trace of the family she might have remaining. Will's friends welcome her with open arms, but just as Lena discovers the stories her father once told her were missing giant pieces of information, she also starts to realize the man she's falling too fast and too hard for has secrets of his own. And they might just place a target on her back. Especially when she is drawn to the brightest stage in town"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; African American women singers; Harlem Renaissance; Male musicians; Man-woman relationships; Secrecy; Women jazz singers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Their eyes were watching God / by Hurston, Zora Neale,author.; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.; Danticat, Edwidge,1969-;
Includes bibliographical references (pages [207]-210).This book is part of our Book Sanctuary collection. A Book Sanctuary is a physical or digital space that actively protects the freedom to read. It provides shelter and access to endangered books. Launched by Chicago Public Library in 2022, The Book Sanctuary initiative brings attention to challenged titles, and commits to making these books accessible. Innisfil ideaLAB & Library's Book Sanctuary Collection represents books that have been challenged, censored or removed from a public library or school in North America. More than 50 adult, teen, and children's books are in our collection and are available for browsing and borrowing in our branches and online. Explore the collection to learn more about why these books were challenged.Set in Florida in the early twentieth century, this is the story of Janie Crawford, a black woman in her forties, as told to her friend Phoeby. The granddaughter of a woman born in slavery, independent Janie evolves through poverty, trials, and three marriages.
Subjects: Banned book sanctuary.; Classics; Literary; African American women; Self-realization;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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The undertaker's assistant / by Skenandore, Amanda,author.;
"The dead can't hurt you. Only the living can." Effie Jones, a former slave who escaped to the Union side as a child, knows the truth of her words. Taken in by an army surgeon and his wife during the War, she learned to read and write, to tolerate the sight of blood and broken bodies-and to forget what is too painful to bear. Now a young freedwoman, she has returned south to New Orleans and earns her living as an embalmer, her steady hand and skillful incisions compensating for her white employer's shortcomings. Tall and serious, Effie keeps her distance from the other girls in her boarding house, holding tight to the satisfaction she finds in her work. But despite her reticence, two encounters--with a charismatic state legislator named Samson Greene, and a beautiful young Creole, Adeline--introduce her to new worlds of protests and activism, of soirees and social ambition. Effie decides to seek out the past she has blocked from her memory and try to trace her kin. As her hopes are tested by betrayal, and New Orleans grapples with violence and growing racial turmoil, Effie faces loss and heartache, but also a chance to finally find her place.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Bildungsromans.; African American women political activists; Undertakers and undertaking;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Somebody's daughter : a memoir / by Ford, Ashley C.,author.;
"One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path we must take to both honor and overcome our origins. For as long as she could remember, Ashley has put her father on a pedestal. Despite having only vague memories of seeing him face-to-face, she believes he's the only person in the entire world who understands her. She thinks she understands him too. He's sensitive like her, an artist, and maybe even just as afraid of the dark. She's certain that one day they'll be reunited again, and she'll finally feel complete. There are just a few problems: he's in prison, and she doesn't know what he did to end up there. Through poverty, puberty, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley returns to her image of her father for hope and encouragement. She doesn't know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates; when the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley finally finds out why her father is in prison. And that's where the story really begins. Somebody's Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she provides a poignant coming-of-age recollection that speaks to finding the threads between who you are and what you were born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Ford, Ashley C.; African American families; African American women; Children of prisoners; Prisoners' families;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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