African American Family Fiction

When Regina Burns married Blue Hamilton, she knew he was no ordinary man. Regina enjoyed a circle of engaging friends and her own work as communications consultant, but she especially relished the company of her husband, who never ceased to be a source of passion and delight. Then everything changes. Frightened women are showing up in West End, seeking Blue's protection from lovers who have suddenly become violent.

Diane McKinney-Whetstone, the award-winning and best-selling author of Tumbling, presents Trading Dreams at Midnight - - an Essence Book Club Recommended Read. Back in 1984, 15-year-old Neena's mother left and never came back. And now Neena is following in her footsteps.

African-American police officer and family man Carson Blake pulls over a young black man for speeding. When the man reaches for his cell phone, Carson thinks he's going for a weapon and shoots to kill. Now a promising life has been snuffed out, and Carson must begin a painful journey toward redemption.

When Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, chef and widower Simon Fortier knows how he plans to face the storm - riding it out inside his long-time home in the city's Treme neighborhood, just as he has through so many storms before. But when the levees break and the city is torn apart, Simon disappears. His son Julian a celebrated jazz trumpeter, rushes home to a New Orleans he left years before to search for his father.

Ifi and Job, a Nigerian couple in an arranged marriage, begin their lives together in Nebraska with a single, outrageous lie: that Job is a doctor, not a college dropout. Unwittingly, Ifi becomes his co-conspirator - that is until his first wife, Cheryl, whom he married for a green card years ago, reenters the picture and upsets Job's tenuous balancing act.

Catherine, busy working with refugee and immigrant women through her small firm, Babylon Sisters, has taken on a powerful new client. She doesn't have much time for Phoebe's complicated questions of paternity - that is, until Phoebe's real father, B. J., a renowned investigative reporter, shows up in town to work on a story connected to Catherine.

All hell has broken loose, and the McPhearson clan is right in the middle of the chaos. After finding out their beloved foster mother, Claudette McPhearson, was anything but the sweet old woman they thought her to be, Javon, Shanelle, and the rest of their siblings hit the ground running in order to keep the Syndicate operating and to keep themselves alive. That also means they have to lose some of the people they love the most.

In Taking Care of Business, the Livingstons are enjoying plenty of success - Toussaint is a Food Network star, Malcolm’s BBQ Soul Smoker is the toast of QVC, and Bianca’s Taste of Soul Tapas Style restaurant is a hit. In fact, only Jefferson has yet to make a name for himself - a problem he blames on his cousin, Toussaint. But when a stranger threatens the Livingstons’ legacy, Jefferson must put his damaged ego aside and help his family fight to stay in business.

The story is told primarily through Andre's voice, but we also see things through the voices and points of view of his mother Ruby, a hard-working medical secretary, his older sister Nina, his mostly not-there-usually-drunk-and-high father Eddie, a halfhearted reggae musician, and Reggie and Smoke, the kingpins of competing drug crews.

Annette Goode has finally found a man who loves her. But at a pre-wedding ceremony, her ugly past is revealed, and her world falls apart. When she reunites with her childhood sweetheart, it seems like everything might be fine - until her long-absent friend, who hides a deadly secret, comes back into Annette's life.

Sometimes love can take you by surprise. Kara Newell has a big-city life that needs a major shakeup. Her dedication as a social worker is unwavering, yet her heart tells her that there is more to life than just work. Kara gets the push she needs when, shockingly, she inherits a large estate on an island off the South Carolina coast. Now the charming town of Angels Landing awaits her—along with a secret family she never knew she had.

There's always a man around the corner, and church trustee James Black should know - he's usually that very man. Meet a deliciously dysfunctional family in this riveting new novel, filled with intrigue, sex, and surprises.

Trinidad-born Justin Peters is a Harvard-educated literature professor, whose focus on the works of "Dead White Men" receives little professional respect at the public Brooklyn college where he teaches. But whatever troubles he might have at work are eclipsed when he realizes his wife, Sally, is no longer certain about their life together.

When Bonnie Wilder's husband, Naz, finds an abandoned baby by the river, she thinks her prayers have been answered. But Naz refuses to raise another man's child.

Sins from the past have left a lingering stench in the Mitchell family. Amid a tumultuous roller-coaster ride through financial ruin, professional humiliation, personal failure, and marital discord, Joel, the youngest son, who was once considered the most eligible bachelor, has finally come to terms with his shortcomings and self-centered decisions.

Three siblings, Sydney, Gina, and Rick, each have full lives, complex relationships, and serious personal problems. But when their mother suffers a debilitating stroke, her need for extensive care forces them to examine the strength of the bonds between them. A Blackboard best-selling author, Roby tackles several contemporary issues in this moving novel, including marital violence and childhood abuse.

In How to Read the Air, Mengestu crafts a moving tale about one man’s search for identity. After his estranged Ethiopian immigrant father dies, Jonas hopes to answer questions about his heritage and culture. So he leaves his wife and home in New York and sets out across the trail his own parents took when they first arrived in America.

Nothing can mend a broken heart quite like family. Sherry has struggled all her life to understand who she is, where she comes from, and, most important, why her mother slapped her cheek one summer afternoon. The incident has haunted Sherry, and it causes her to dig into her family's past. Like many family histories, it is fractured and stubbornly reluctant to reveal its secrets. But Sherry is determined to know the full story. In a few days' time, her extended family will gather for a reunion, and Sherry sets off across the country with her mother, Dumpling, to join them.

Nationally best-selling author Lutishia Lovely spills sin and sizzle in The Eleventh Commandment, part of the Hallelujah Love series. Members of Kingdom Citizen’s Christian Center are up to all sorts of no good. Frieda’s juggling her husband, new baby and boy toy, while Hope is struggling with the return of her husband’s old flame and Stacy’s deciding if joining her ex in a moneymaking scheme will reunite them.

Camille Brousarde is tired and discouraged. She lives in the Watts area of Los Angeles, which has never recovered from the race riots. Her seven grown children seem directionless and adrift. When she decides to open a local restaurant, Camille's Gumbo Kitchen, she hopes that its tasty offerings will pull together not just her family, but her neighborhood, too. Crawfish Dreams is a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick.