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Black cake : a novel / by Wilkerson, Charmaine,author.;
"In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother's death and her hidden past--a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake. In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking journey Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child, challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their family, and themselves. Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor's true history, and fulfill her final request to 'share the black cake when the time is right?' Will their mother's revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever? Charmaine Wilkerson's debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names, can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Brothers and sisters; Families; Mothers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The Black Loch / by May, Peter,1951-author.;
When the lifeless body of eighteen-year-old TV personality Caitlin is found abandoned on a remote beach at the head of An Loch Dubh, the Black Loch on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, questions of murder and secrecy shroud the tight-knit community. A swimmer and canoeist, it is inconceivable that she could have drowned. Fin Macleod left the island ten years earlier to escape its memories. When he learns that his married son Fionnlagh had been having a clandestine affair with the dead girl and is suspected of her murder, he and Marsaili return to try and clear his name. But nothing is as it seems, and the truth of the murder lies in a past that Fin would rather forget, and a tragedy at the cages of a salmon farm on East Loch Roag, where the tense climax of the story finds its resolution. The Black Loch takes us on a journey through family ties, hidden relationships and unforgiving landscapes, where suspense, violent revenge and revelation converge in the shadow of the Black Loch.
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Novels.; Macleod, Fin (Fictitious character); Adultery; Fathers and sons; Islands; Murder; Secrecy;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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Scatterlings : a novel / by Manenzhe, Rešoketšwe,author.;
In 1927 South Africa, when the Immorality Act is passed, prohibiting sexual intercourse between Europeans (white people) and natives (Black people), married couple Alisa and Abram find their bond in tatters, which leads Alisa to commit a devastating act, one that will reverberate through their entire family's lives.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Authors, South African; Interracial marriage; Interracial marriage;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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So close / by Day, Sylvia,author.;
Widower Kane Black remains ruinously married to his late wife, Lily. Grief has hollowed him, until he sees a woman with his wife's inimitable beauty on Manhattan's streets. He whisks her up to his towering penthouse, where Lily's memory is a possessive, beguiling force. Aliyah, Kane's mother, deals in science. "Lily" has dangerous control over Kane, and there can be only one queen on this throne, while Amy, Kane's sister-in-law, has been bloodied by betrayal, and now intends to claim what she's owed. Three women circle the man who unquestioningly accepts the return of his beloved long-dead wife. He's happier than ever, and he'll do anything to stay that way.
Subjects: Romance fiction.; Erotic fiction.; Novels.; Bereavement; Dysfunctional families; Family secrets; Grief; Man-woman relationships; Spouses; Widowers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Good dirt : a novel / by Wilkerson, Charmaine,author.;
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved -- and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England -- the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart without any explanation, that's exactly what they get. So Ebby flees to France, only for her past to follow her there. And as she tries to process what's happened, she begins to think about the other loss her family suffered on that day eighteen years ago -- the stoneware jar that had been in their family for generations, brought North by an enslaved ancestor. But little does she know that the handcrafted piece of pottery held more than just her family's history -- it might also hold the key to unlocking her own future. In this sweeping, evocative novel, Charmaine Wilkerson brings to life a multi-generational epic that examines how the past informs our present.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Novels.; African American families; Secrecy; Grief; Murder; Race relations;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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With the devil's help : a true story of poverty, mental illness, and murder / by Wooten, Neal,author.;
Neal Wooten traces five decades of his dirt-poor, Alabama mountain family as the years and secrets coalesce.
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Wooten, Neal; Poor families;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Never give up : a prairie family's story / by Brokaw, Tom,author.;
"Tom Brokaw is known as one of the hardest-working, most successful people in broadcast journalism. His success is attributed to his work ethic, his instinct for identifying the significance of the news in the lives of ordinary people, and his reputation for always showing up for others. In this heartfelt family story, Tom shows the values and lessons he absorbed from his ancestors, parents, and others who settled in South Dakota and worked hard to build lives on the prairie during the first half of the twentieth century. At the center of this story is Red Brokaw, Tom's father, who left school in the third grade. At the end of his life, Red surprised his family by recording his memories about the Brokaw ancestors who obtained land in South Dakota under the Lend-Lease plan and started a hotel called the Brokaw House. As a boy Red worked there, and then on construction jobs, developing a talent for machines. At a high school play, he fell in love with the girl playing the lead, Jean, whose father had lost the family farm during the Depression. They married, and struggled financially. Their son Tom was born in 1940, and two other sons followed. Red had a philosophy: Never give up. Never complain. After the war, Red got his big break. The Army Corps of Engineers began to build great projects, including dams across the Missouri River, magnificent structures like the Fort Randall and the Gavins Point dams. Red rose to become a foreman on the dam project, and the Brokaws moved to towns created to house workers, where the family became part of a vibrant community life"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Brokaw, Red, 1912-1982.; Brokaw, Tom; Broucard family.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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From scratch : a memoir of love, Sicily, and finding home / by Locke, Tembi,1970-author.;
"It was love at first sight when actress Tembi met professional chef, Saro, on a street in Florence. There was just one problem: Saro's traditional Sicilian family did not approve of his marrying a black American woman. However, the couple, heartbroken but undeterred, forged on. They built a happy life in Los Angeles, with fulfilling careers, deep friendships, and the love of their lives: a baby girl they adopted at birth. Eventually, they reconciled with Saro's family just as he faced a formidable cancer that would consume all their dreams."--Back cover.
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Biographies.; Recipes.; Locke, Tembi, 1970-; Locke, Tembi, 1970-; African American actresses; Spouses of cancer patients; Television actors and actresses;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Flipping boxcars : a novel / by Kyles, Cedric,1965-author.; Eisenstock, Alan,author.; container of (work):Cedric,the Entertainer,1965-Flipping boxcars.;
"Cedric The Entertainer's debut novel Flipping Boxcars is a valentine to close-knit black families and tightly woven communities during the Depression and World War II. The story is also an homage to Cedric's grandfather, who in this tale emerges as Babe. He is a charismatic and widely loved man. He is also a gambler, whose gift of gab often gets him out of tricky situations, which is often. Babe is also a dreamer, something he shares in common with his patient and loving wife. They both yearn for financial stability and need to hold on to their land as insurance for future generations. However, when Babe and a few comrades enlist in a scheme that improbably falls apart, Babe places his family on the verge of losing everything. What's a family man to do? Babe decides to go for one more big scheme involving railroad boxcars. In breakneck speed, Cedric the Entertainer pulls readers in and never lets them go until the last page. Will Babe succeed? Will Rosie continue to support her husband? Are the Feds on to Babe's scheme? Flipping Boxcars is a page-turner anchored by rich, multi-dimensional characters, and oozing with Cedric The Entertainer's inimitable charm"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; African American families; Alcohol trafficking; Gamblers; Gambling; Railroad cars; Spouses;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Good dirt [text (large print)] : a novel / by Wilkerson, Charmaine,author.;
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved -- and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England -- the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart without any explanation, that's exactly what they get. So Ebby flees to France, only for her past to follow her there. And as she tries to process what's happened, she begins to think about the other loss her family suffered on that day eighteen years ago -- the stoneware jar that had been in their family for generations, brought North by an enslaved ancestor. But little does she know that the handcrafted piece of pottery held more than just her family's history -- it might also hold the key to unlocking her own future. In this sweeping, evocative novel, Charmaine Wilkerson brings to life a multi-generational epic that examines how the past informs our present.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Large print books.; Novels.; African American families; Grief; Murder; Race relations; Secrecy;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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