African American Historical Fiction

When Sheriff Mapes is summoned to a sugarcane plantation to find a dead Cajun farmer, he knows who committed the crime. Mapes finds himself powerless, however, when nearly 20 elderly black men confess to the murder. Can justice be served, or will the dead man's brutish father pass judgment his way?

From the coast of Africa to the homestead of Skuna Valley Mississippi comes a twisted tale of hoodoo magic, slavery, rape, torture, and murder. On the banks of Turkey Creek, a hoodoo magic curse is cast to avenge the mistreatment of innocent slaves. Plantation owner Cassius Lue Shannon's years of horrifying culture towards slaves bring down a living hell upon his family. Almost 160 years later Henry and Sharron Matoske build their dream house just off Turkey Creek not knowing the dark secrets haunting the once proud plantation land.

Dovey Johnson Roundtree was most famous for her successful defense of an indigent Black man accused of the murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer, a prominent White Washington, DC, socialite, in 1965. Despite her triumph in this high-profile case, Roundtree continued to represent the poor and the underserved. She was the first lawyer to bring a bus-desegregation case before the Interstate Commerce Commission, clinching the ruling that enabled Robert F. Kennedy to enforce bus integration. She was also among the first Black women to enter the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.

Three Brothers from Virginia tells the tale of Matt and his two enslaved brothers, Paul and Luke, who thrive upon their insulated Virginia farm until the Civil War forces them to stare into the face of a reality they so long eluded. As Paul flees to New York, Matt joins the Confederate army, and Luke remains a slave, the brothers are thrown into sweeping battles, riots, and a cloud of enmity, their values and lives tested by a festering intolerance that threatens the only truth they ever knew.

For three years of the War Between the States, Marlie Lynch has helped the cause in peace: with coded letters about anti-Rebel uprisings in her Carolina woods, tisanes and poultices for Union prisoners, and silent aid to fleeing slave and Freeman alike. Her formerly enslaved mother's traditions and the name of a white father she never knew have protected her - until the vicious Confederate Home Guard claims Marlie's home for their new base of operations in the guerilla war against Southern resistors of the Rebel cause.

Set against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance, The Color Line uncovers the long buried story of The Harlem Hellfighters, one of the many African-American units that served in the first World War. By focusing on the personal journey of Serval Rivard, from his wedding day to the trenches of the Western Front and home again, the story reveals not only the Hellfighters’ history, but that of two families and their place in Harlem’s most glorious era.

Au milieu des années 1960, Grace, jeune fille noire exilée du Sud ségrégationniste vers un New York en pleine lutte pour les droits civiques, tombe enceinte en même temps qu'elle découvre l'amour. On ne lui permet pas de garder l'enfant. C'est Delores, une femme traumatisée dans sa chair et dans son âme, qui va adopter et élever sa fille, Rae, en tentant de la préserver du poids de ses souvenirs. Mais à l'heure de devenir mère à son tour, Rae devra affronter cet héritage et faire la paix avec sa famille adoptive aussi bien qu'avec l'inconnue qui l'a mise au monde.

Sot, rescued as a child from the brutality of Danish slave markets, grows up under the fierce protection of Roar Bjornsson, a famed warrior and trader. Known for her dark skin and amber eyes—marks of a distant land she cannot remember—Sot is both admired and feared, called witch and warrior in equal measure. But beneath her poised exterior, she wrestles with a restless heart and an aching desire for identity. When she leaves the comfort of Roar’s protection to follow the enigmatic Saxon warrior Eadric, Sot plunges into a world fraught with treachery and bloodshed.

Georgina Wilcox, a wallflower with hidden musical talents, is furious when her reclusive older sister—the recently widowed Viscountess—refuses sorely needed help from the Duke of Torrance, the only gentleman who has shown kindness to the bereft Wilcox sisters. Georgina decides to get back at her sister and shock the Viscountess by kissing the first willing stranger she meets in the enchanting gardens of Anya House. Unfortunately, her sister is not the sole witness. A group of reporters and the ton's leading gossips catch Georgina in a passionate embrace with a reticent composer.

It is 1938, and a despondent president travels incognito on a mission to reconnect with the country. He hitches a ride with a 13-year-old boy on his journey of a lifetime: to deliver a Lincoln Zephyr convertible—a car of historic significance. Together, they travel the backroads of the South toward Virginia. The Secret Service plans to protect the president go awry during an overnight, nationwide calamity, and when a psychotic killer sets upon the pair, the joy of traveling becomes a race for survival. My Friend the President is a fun-filled adventure for old and young.

Henry Cebolla Shackleton es un pícaro niño esclavo en cuyo camino se cruza el legendario abolicionista John Brown, «el más americano de todos nosotros», en palabras de Henry David Thoreau; «el hijop--a asesino más infame y retorcío que jamás hayáis visto», a ojos del Cebolla. Comienza así la hilarante autobiografía de Henry, envuelto contra su voluntad en la cruzada antiesclavista del ejército de John Brown y obligado a hacerse pasar por una niña para sobrevivir.

En 1972, des ouvriers de Pottstown, Pennsylvanie, découvrent des restes humains au fond d’un puits. À Chicken Hill, quartier pauvre où se côtoient Juifs et noirs américains, l’identité du squelette et la manière dont il est arrivé là sont deux secrets bien gardés.

Harper Fleming is done with being passed over. As a journalist for a Chicago newspaper, she’s been refused a shot at the sportswriter position she longs for. And her on again/off again relationship is going nowhere. Leaving both behind, she heads to Nashville, Tennessee, where she plans to interview her widowed grandfather, Bernard Fleming, for a book about his father Kelton Fleming’s time in the Negro Baseball Leagues. When Bernard reveals health issues within days of her arrival, Harper assumes responsibility for taking care of him.

Inspired by a real-life scandal that was shocking even for the tumultuous Roaring Twenties, this captivating novel tells the story of a secret marriage by a New York elite that ignites an explosive battle over race and class—and three very different women struggling for truth, legitimacy, and the futures they risked everything to shape.

Billed as the Little Girl with the Big Voice, blues singer Lucille Arnetta Love always dreamed of life under the lights. From traveling family gospel band to lead singer in a riotous vaudeville troupe, Lucille is on the rise. But a devastating family secret, one that’s poised to shatter every dream she’s ever had, casts an inescapable shadow over Lucille’s career. Decades ago, a botched robbery ended in a suspicious death—and all signs point to Lucille’s own father as the culprit. It’s a secret that Lucille’s family is determined to keep buried—even from Lucille herself.

Of Rizpah's Daughters is the story of an American enslaved African woman named Margaret. When her master gave her toddler daughters away as gifts, she was so devastated that in her grief, she made "graves" for her daughters. She topped the graves with flowers and knelt at the graves daily. Her master thought it was funny and sarcastically re-named the woman Rizpah. Of Rizpah's Daughters is a story about the evils of slavery, love, grief, friendship, loyalty, adultery, the supernatural, death, and victory.

Cassius, a virile slave, avenges the murder of his kind master and must flee with his pregnant wife and son via the Underground Railroad. The journey is endangered by greedy bounty hunters and harsh weather. When he discovers his ex-lover in a safe house, he is torn between desire and fidelity—and the pull of freedom.

A powerful story about love, courage, sacrifice, resilience, and hope, True Grace, set in 1924 during the Harlem Renaissance and Roaring Twenties, chronicles the journey of an immigrant, mixed-raced woman from the Congo, England, and Jamaica, fighting for her family's survival. Inspired by real people and events, Grace must navigate the misogyny and racism of the courts, banks, child welfare system, and bad actors to hold her family together. Calling on her grit, determination, and grace, she must overcome harrowing circumstances.

Annamitta enters the story as a six-year old as her “Sonatina” begins with a Polonaise North with her Mama Minnie Lou, where she learns dignified protest and discovers a talent for sewing. Annamitta’s adult dance kicks-off in what I like to call the “Honey Pot Suite” where a visit with her big sister Suzie Mae in Miami leads to an altercation with Trixie Dupree causing concern over Mr. Buddy J.

Read about a genius slave who name George; also known in the 1800’s as, The Black Magician, for his remarkable tactics of helping slaves escape North into freedom. George uses his witty inventions, brilliant disguises and crafty tricks to help slaves escape slavery. George is instructed and guided by his grandmother, a Nubian princess, stolen from Africa. While setting out on the mission to set slaves free, George has to contend with a money hungry slave catcher, dishonest friends and many other trials and tribulations.