Black History Month Fiction for Adults

A selection of novels and short stories by Black Canadian authors.

Updated February 4, 2026
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Broughtupsy : a novel
Cooke, Christina
Paper Book
Tired of not having a place to land, twenty-year-old Akua flies from Canada to her native Jamaica to reconnect with her estranged sister Tamika. Their younger brother Bryson has recently passed from sickle cell anemia - the same disease that took their mother ten years prior - and Akua carries his...
Fifteen dogs : an apologue
Alexis, André
Paper Book
Winner of Canada Reads Winner of the Giller Prize Finalist for the Toronto Book Awards Winner of the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize "[Alexis] devises an inventive romp through the nature of humanity in this beautiful, entertaining read...
Frying plantain : stories
Reid-Benta, Zalika
Paper Book
Set in the neighbourhood of "Little Jamaica," Frying Plantain follows a girl from elementary school to high school graduation as she navigates the tensions between mothers and daughters, second-generation immigrants experiencing first-generation cultural expectations, and Black identity in...
Hold my girl : a novel
Carr, Charlene
Paper Book
Two women. Two eggs. One life-altering mistake. Katherine finally has it all. She's spent her entire life striving for perfection--obsessing over her spotless home, maintaining her pristine reputation, building her perfect family--and her hard work has finally paid off. After seven...
The illegal : a novel
Hill, Lawrence
Paper Book
Lawrence Hill spellbound readers with Someone Knows My Name (made into the television mini-series, The Book of Negroes), hailed as "transporting" (Entertainment Weekly) and "completely engrossing" (Washington Post). The Illegal is the gripping story of Keita Ali, a refugee--like the many in today...
In the upper country
Thomas, Kai
Paper Book
Winner of the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The fates of two unforgettable women--one just beginning a journey of reckoning and self-discovery and the other completing her life's last vital act--intertwine in this sweeping, powerful novel set at the...
The islands : stories
Irving, Dionne
Paper Book
Shortlisted for the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction A Hurston Wright Legacy Award Nominee Longlisted for the 2023 New American Voices Award A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Powerful stories that...
River Mumma
Reid-Benta, Zalika
Paper Book
"River Mumma is a love letter to culture, home, and coming of age--and will spark important, relevant book club conversations, too." --Marissa Stapley, New York Times bestselling author of Lucky Issa Rae's Insecure with a magical realist spin:...
Washington Black
Edugyan, Esi
Paper Book
George Washington Black, or "Wash," an eleven-year-old field slave on a Barbados sugar plantation, is terrified to be chosen by his master's brother as a manservant. To his surprise, the eccentric Christopher Wilde turns out to be a naturalist, explorer, inventor, and abolitionist. Soon Wash is...
We rip the world apart : a novel
Carr, Charlene
Paper Book
"Page-turning and propulsive, heartbreaking and hopeful in turn. An important and necessary book that will stay with me for a long time." --Shelby Van Pelt, New York Times bestselling author of Remarkably Bright Creatures From the acclaimed author of Hold My Girl comes a...
Where we end & begin
Igharo, Jane
Paper Book
"Fans of Sonali Dev and Helen Hoang will find this just their style."-The New York Times Star-crossed lovers get a second chance at romance when they're reunited at a wedding in Nigeria, in a heartfelt novel from the acclaimed author of The Sweetest Remedy. ...

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