Black History Month: Fiction

A selection of new historical fiction to celebrate Black History Month.

Updated January 19, 2024
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Carolina built : a novel
Alexander, Kianna
Audiobook
The first ladies
Benedict, Marie
Paper Book
The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Mary McLeod Bethune refuses to back down as white supremacists attempt to thwart her work. She marches on as an activist and an educator, and as her reputation grows she becomes a celebrity, revered by titans of business and recognized by U.S. Presidents....
The reformatory : a novel
Due, Tananarive
Paper Book
A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner and a New York Times Notable Book Winner of the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award "You're in for a treat. The Reformatory is one of those books you can't put down. Tananarive Due hit it out of the...
Coleman Hill
Foote, Kim Coleman
Ebook
Libertie : a novel
Greenidge, Kaitlyn
Paper Book
The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2021 The New York Times Book Review Best Historical Fiction of 2021 Washington Post Best Books of 2021: 50 Notable Works of Fiction TIME 100 Must-Read Books of 2021 ...
Promise : a novel
Griffiths, Rachel Eliza
Ebook
Two Black sisters growing up in small-town New England fight to protect their home, their bodies, and their dreams as the Civil Rights Movement sweeps the nation in Promise, a "magical, magnificent novel" (Marlon James) from "a startlingly fresh voice" (Jacqueline Woodson). ...
Time's undoing : a novel
Head, Cheryl A.
Paper Book
A searing and tender novel about a young Black journalist's search for answers in the unsolved murder of her great-grandfather in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, decades ago--inspired by the author's own family history Birmingham, 1929: Robert Lee Harrington, a master carpenter,...
The house of Eve : a novel
Johnson, Sadeqa
Paper Book
"Amazing...I was completely surprised by the ending of this beautifully told and written book." --Reese Witherspoon "A triumph of historical fiction" (The Washington Post), an instant New York Times bestseller, and a Reese's Book Club pick, set in 1950s...
Yellow wife : a novel
Johnson, Sadeqa
Paper Book
A Best Book of 2021 by NPR and Christian Science Monitor "A fully immersive, intricately crafted story inspired by the pages of history. In Pheby, Sadeqa Johnson has created a woman whose struggle to survive and to protect the ones she loves will have readers turning...
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
McBride, James
Paper Book
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the...
One blood
Millner, Denene
Paper Book
A People Magazine Pick. "In delicious, decadent prose, Denene Millner does what few authors can-compose a sprawling multigenerational tale that is necessary American reading. One Blood sings the song of the South in a voice that is heartbreaking, hopeful, and...
Moonrise over New Jessup : a novel
Minnicks, Jamila
Paper Book
"With compelling characters and a heart-pounding plot, Jamila Minnicks pulled me into pages of history I'd never turned before."―Barbara Kingsolver, New York Times bestselling author of Demon Copperhead Winner of the PEN...
Did you hear about Kitty Karr? : a novel
Paul, Crystal Smith
Ebook
REESE'S BOOK CLUB MAY 2023 PICK BOOK OF THE MONTH MAY 2023 PICK A multigenerational saga that traverses the glamour of old Hollywood and the seductive draw of modern-day showbiz When Kitty Karr Tate, a White icon of the silver screen,...
Black Bottom saints : a novel
Randall, Alice
Paper Book
An enthralling literary tour-de-force that pays tribute to Detroit's legendary neighborhood, a mecca for jazz, sports, and politics, Black Bottom Saints is a powerful blend of fact and imagination reminiscent of E.L. Doctorow's classic novel Ragtime and Marlon James' Man Booker Award-winning...
Symphony of secrets
Slocumb, Brendan
Paper Book
A gripping page-turner from the celebrated author of book club favorite The Violin Conspiracy: Music professor Bern Hendricks discovers a shocking secret about the most famous American composer of all time--his music may have been stolen from a Black Jazz Age prodigy named Josephine Reed....
Memphis : a novel
Stringfellow, Tara M.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY * A spellbinding debut novel tracing three generations of a Southern Black family and one daughter's discovery that she has the power to change her family's legacy. "A rhapsodic hymn to...
Crook manifesto : a novel
Whitehead, Colson
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author of Harlem Shuffle continues his Harlem saga in a powerful and hugely-entertaining novel that summons 1970s New York in all its seedy glory. A Best Book of the Year: The New...

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