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African American Fiction May 2026 |
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Edmonia: A Novel of a Boundary-Breaking American Sculptress
by Brianne Baker
For readers of Vanessa Miller, Sheila Williams, Victoria Christopher Murray and Tracy Chevalier, the story of an unconventional woman who overcame adversity to create enduring tributes in stone to her race and times. The life of pioneering Black Neoclassical sculptor Edmonia Lewis - from the Civil War-era Midwest to Boston's abolitionist circles, to Rome's expatriate community - is resurrected in this stunning debut biographical novel. I plan to be a sculptor, to memorialize forever the great men and women of my race, and those who have fought for our cause. At the age of 8, orphaned, precocious Wildfire seems fated to a life of toil selling her handmade crafts to Niagara Falls tourists alongside her Ojibwe aunts. But Wildfire's older half-brother, Samuel, has been making other plans for his gifted sibling. Soon, she is set on a new trajectory--and with it comes her birth name, Edmonia, and a revelation about her true origins. Ensconced at the home of a trusted benefactor while Samuel makes his fortune in California, Edmonia flourishes--despite her abhorrence for etiquette lessons. Privately nurturing artistic ambitions, she advances through the abolitionist's prep school and lands at Oberlin College. But at Oberlin lies a devastating trap: Edmonia is accused of poisoning, nearly fatally, two friends, with tainted wine. What ensues is a headline-making trial, a vicious attack by a white mob--and a bold journey that will lead Edmonia from a crucial introduction in Boston to a vibrant community of celebrated expatriate women artists in Rome, and encounters with such distinguished figures as President Ulysses S. Grant, Pope Pius IX, and Frederick Douglass. Still, Edmonia's success is plagued by stinging critiques, potent racism, and haunting self-doubt. She must decide, too, whether to abandon her romantic entanglements, or devote herself to bringing to life her visions of beauty and justice--and hopefully, forge her place in a rapidly changing world.
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Sunset Over Napa Valley
by Monica Garner
The call of summer, sisterhood, and hearts in need of healing bring two best friends and their college-age daughters to Napa Valley, California's breathtaking wine country--where a long-held secret threatens to forever alter their relationships . . . Since their fast friendship as teenagers over 30 years ago, Louisiana natives Remi Landry and Bianca Fuentes Perez have seen each other through the best and worst of times. Now, as Remi grieves the sudden death of her beloved husband of 25 years, and Bianca struggles with the fallout of a divorce she didn't see coming, the women are amid their greatest challenges yet. Remi and Gerard spent their honeymoon and summers in Napa and on the Sonoma Coast. Their love of wine led them to buy a Victorian home in Wine Country--and then a winery on the site of an age-old vineyard. They spoke endlessly about retiring to run their winery. But with Gerard gone, Remi must sort through his things and reevaluate their assets, and her future. Bianca is grateful to be there for Remi. After all, Remi was her rock when Bianca's husband left--and throughout the breast cancer diagnosis that followed. Now in remission, and with her daughter a thriving college freshman, Bianca hopes for a brighter future. But when Remi unearths a secret about her late husband so shattering even Bianca can't help, the past casts a shadow over everything--and everyone . . . Emotional and relatable, here is a captivating novel of the bonds of friendship, the power of love and forgiveness, and the revelation that sometimes comfort lies where you least expect it.
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Ghalen: A Romance in Black
by Walter Mosley
A stellar addition to the Amistad list: a beautiful coming-of-age novel from MWA Grand Master and PEN and Edgar Award-winner Walter Mosley that explores love in all forms--romantic, familial, and platonic, centered on one Black family, including a neurodivergent man, and the found bonds that helps ground them.One of the most acclaimed writers working today, Walter Mosley spins magic once again in this beautiful novel that explores the lives of Black characters and one remarkable family through a lens both universal and unique. It touches on the lives of those whose deepest thoughts and motivations are seldom explored--including the neurodivergent, the incarcerated, and the immigrant tortured by their past--characters who will stay with you and change how you see the world.Ghalen, a brilliant young Black man, is the son of two seemingly mismatched parents. His mother, a gifted scientist, whose own mother expected her to exceed all the achievements in her family, and his father, a gentle cook at a small vegan restaurant, whose idiosyncratic nature shows the young woman a radically different love and understanding of life, despite his inexperience and lack of education.His parents' grand love story starts it all off, setting us up to follow Ghalen and his family so deeply, that each new twist and turn feels personal.The journey through Ghalen's coming-of-age tale, as he ventures out into the world, is marked with peaks and valleys and such a drive that you can't help but strap in for it all, while not wanting it to end.Lush and cinematic, with the narrative drive and indelible power of Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead and Paul Murray's The Bee Sting, Ghalen is one of this bestselling, prize-winning writer's finest achievements.
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Now Then
by Morgan Radford
In this sweeping debut novel by NBC News Anchor Morgan Radford, Now Then follows a Harvard student navigating her own path to self-discovery while uncovering her mother's secret past fleeing the Cuban Revolution. Now -- 1991 Cambridge, MA. Liliana Soto Walker is an 18-year-old freshman who arrives at Harvard from the humble Appalachian home of her Cuban immigrant mother and Black American father. Lily feels out of place in this new world of privilege, but her roommate Hana and a budding romance with Vikram - a charming Indian-British postdoctoral student - stirs a new sense of belonging. As Lily navigates the complexities of college life, her mother, Marisol, finally begins to reveal her past through heartfelt letters, sparking Lily's journey to uncover hidden histories and discover what it means to endure - and find happiness again. Meanwhile, Lily and Vikram form a deep bond that sweeps across decades and continents, one marked by amazing-turned-devastating missed connections.Then -- 1957 Havana, Cuba. Marisol, Lily's mother, is a bright young woman with dreams of becoming a journalist. But as the calls for a government coup reach a deadly crescendo, one deadly night ahead of the Cuban Revolution forces Marisol to flee her homeland, leaving her scarred in ways she has never revealed. Until now. Through their letters, the secrets Marisol has kept hidden for years finally begin to surface, challenging Lily's understanding of who her mother really is -- and by extension, herself.Heartfelt and romantic, suspenseful and surprising, Now Then is a powerful tale that explores the weight of secrets, the hope that comes with second chances, and the choices we live with - and love through - forever.
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Score
by Kennedy Ryan
A scorching second-chance romance between a talented screenwriter and a phenomenal musician from the New York Times bestselling author of Before I Let Go. A triumph of art and emotion. --Talia Hibbert, New York Times bestselling author You never forget your first love. Isn't that what they say? Verity Hill knows this truth intimately. She didn't simply miss Wright Monk Bellamy when they parted ways in college. She's haunted by his touch. Every kiss, any lover since--it's a shadow of what they had. Time heals all wounds. Isn't that what they say? Monk doesn't believe that for a second. He wasn't simply betrayed when he and Verity split. He was devastated, with parts of him left behind in the ruins of all that was destroyed. More than a decade after their disastrous breakup, Verity and Monk must work together on the set of an epic Harlem Renaissance biopic. With Monk, now a world-class musician, creating the score, and Verity, an award-winning screenwriter, penning the script, there's Oscar buzz before shooting even begins. This once-in-a-lifetime project could catapult them both to new heights, but can they can put the past behind them for the sake of the film ... for the sake of something more?
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Honey
by Imani Thompson
A dark, provocative, adrenaline-rush of a novel about a graduate student who murders bad men and justifies it in the name of feminism, by a bold new voice in fictionMight be the most-anticipated debut novel of the year thanks in part to its perfect-for-Hollywood premise.--Esquire A darkly comic novel about the tricky politics of race, sex, violence and love . . . the entertaining (and quietly damning) read you'll need to kick off spring.--Elle A Most Anticipated Book of the Year: Glamour, Debutiful, Book Riot, Esquire, SheReads, Elle, StylistShe just wants to know what justice feels like. Yrsa is bored: bored with her PhD program, her entitled students, and the never-ending pages of racial violence and feminist theory she has to read. But most of all, she's bored with the men in her life--especially the bad ones. And then, one sunny afternoon, she accidentally kills one. Suddenly a problematic professor is dead, and Yrsa, well--she's no longer bored. Emboldened, she starts to chase the high, and soon no misbehaving sexist man within commuting distance is safe. Finally Yrsa's academic research feels useful. But how long can killing in the name of feminist and racial solidarity justify her actions? And how long until her actions--and buried family secrets--come back to unravel her?
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