Credit: courtesy of publishers
Stylist Loves
11 fiction books by Black authors to add to your shelf this Black History Month
By Amy Beecham
7 months ago
8 min read
Mark Black History Month by curling up with a great book by these 11 authors, including Akwaeke Emezi and Kiley Reid.
As autumn chills continue and we retreat inside, there’s no better way to pass the time than curling up with a good book. From Akwaeke Emezi’s thriller Little Rot to Tia Williams’ A Love Song for Ricki Wilde, 2024 has been a brilliant year for fiction written by Black authors. That’s not to discount the incredible titles that came before, from Kiley Reid’s Booker Prize listed Such A Fun Age to Bolu Babalola’s bestselling collection of short stories Love In Colour.
There are a lot of ways you can honour Black History Month, from donating to worthy causes to supporting Black-owned businesses, but October is also the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in art and culture. Here are eight moving and deeply insightful novels written by Black authors to add to your bookshelf this autumn.
Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi
As Kalu drops Aima at the airport, it marks the end of their four-year relationship. Shattered and broken open, he thinks that’s the last he will see of his ex-girlfriend. But, reeling from the breakup, both Aima and Kalu find themselves drawn back to Lagos: to separate nights of decadence. When Kalu visits an exclusive sex party hosted by his best friend, Ahmed, he makes a decision that will plunge them all into chaos.
On the other side of town, Ola and Souraya, fresh off their first-class flight from Kuala Lumpur, are getting ready for their own nights of pleasure, unaware that everything is about to go awry. Pulled into a whirlwind descent through the city’s corrupt and glittering underworld, they’re all looking for a way out, fueled by a desperate need to escape the threat that looms over them.
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn’t one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she’s the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a more exciting life awaits her.
So, when she is invited to rent the bottom floor of a Harlem brownstone, Ricki jumps at the chance for a fresh start. She leaves behind her wealth and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. Then one evening in February, as the heady scent of night-blooming jasmine fills the air, Ricki encounters a handsome stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way.
Shop A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams at Bookshop.org, £9.99
We Were Girls Once by Aiwanose Odafen
Ego, Zina and Eriife were always destined to be best friends, ever since their grandmothers sat next to each other on a dusty bus to Lagos in the late 1940s, forging a bond that would last generations. But over half a century later, Nigeria is a new and modern country. As the three young women navigate the incessant strikes and political turmoil that surrounds them, their connection is shattered by a terrible assault. In the aftermath, nothing will remain the same as life takes them down separate paths.
For Ego, now a high-powered London lawyer, success can’t mask her loneliness and feelings of being an outsider. Desperate to feel connected to Nigeria, she escapes into a secret life online. Zina’s ambition is to be anyone but herself; acting proves the ultimate catharsis, but it comes at the cost of her family. And Eriife surprises everyone by morphing from a practising doctor to a ruthless politician’s perfect wife.
When Ego returns home, the three women’s lives become entwined once more, as Nigeria’s political landscape fractures. Their shared past will always connect them, but can they – and their country – overcome it?
Buy We Were Girls Once by Aiwanose Odafen at Bookshop.org, £20
Maame by Jessica George
As blisteringly funny and achingly relatable as its heroine, Maame follows Maddie Wright, who has been told who she is her entire life. When she finally gets the chance to leave home, Maddie is determined to become the kind of woman she wants to be. One who wears a bright yellow suit, dates men who definitely aren’t on her mum’s list of prospective husbands and stands up to her boss’s microaggressions. Someone who doesn’t have to google all her life choices. But when tragedy strikes, Maddie is forced to face the risks – and rewards – of putting her heart on the line.
Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst
Until 24 hours ago, Mickey Hayward was living the life she’d always dreamed of. Now she’s been fired – tossed aside for a younger, more ‘agreeable’ Black writer. Sick of always being overlooked and undervalued, she responds with an online letter detailing the racism she’s faced within the industry. But when it’s met with overwhelming silence and her girlfriend suggests they go on a break, Mickey’s carefully crafted life starts to fall apart.
As Mickey flees to her hometown, the simplicity of her old life – and the arms of an old flame – are all too tempting. But her life in New York refuses to be forgotten. And when a media scandal turns Mickey’s post into a viral sensation, suddenly everyone wants to hear what she has to say.
Shop Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst at Bookshop.org, £9.99
You Made A Fool Of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
A Sunday Times bestseller hailed as the hottest romance of summer 2022, in You Made A Fool Of Death With Your Beauty we meet Feyi, who is about to be given the chance to escape the city’s blistering heat for a dream island holiday: poolside cocktails, beach sunsets and elaborate meals. And as the sun goes down on her old life our heroine also might just be ready to open her heart to someone new. The only problem is, she’s falling for the one man she absolutely can’t have.
Shop You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi at Bookshop.org, £14.99
The List by Yomi Adegoke
Ola Olajide, a high-profile journalist, is marrying the love of her life in one month’s time. Young, beautiful, successful – she and her fiancé Michael seem to have it all. That is, until one morning when they both wake up to the same message: ‘Oh my god, have you seen The List?’
It began as a list of anonymous allegations about abusive men. Now, it has been published online. Ola made her name breaking exactly this type of story. She would usually be the first to cover it, calling for the men to be fired. Except today, Michael’s name is on there.
With their future on the line, Ola gives Michael an ultimatum to prove his innocence by their wedding day, but will the truth of what happened change everything for both of them?
The Human Origins Of Beatrice Porter And Other Essential Ghosts by Soraya Palmer
Growing up in Brooklyn with their Caribbean parents, Zora and Sasha Porter’s days were enchanted by stories from the islands: the mischievous spider Anansi both seductive and vengeful; the flame-breathing Rolling Calf who haunts butchers; and ocean-dwelling Mama Dglo, said to be half snake, half human. Now they are teenagers, an unsettled Zora escapes into her journal, dreaming of being a writer, while Sasha discovers sex and chest binding, spending more time with her new girlfriend than at home. But the Anansi Stories that captivated them as children begin to creep into the present, revealing truths about the Porter family’s past they must all face up to.
Goodbye Earl by Leesa Cross-Smith
Four women take fate into their own hands in this big-hearted story of friendship, resilience and revenge on monstrous men. In 2004, Rosemarie, Ada, Caroline and Kasey are in their final days of high school and on the precipice of all the things teenagers look forward to when anything in life seems possible.
In 2019, Kasey has returned to her small Southern hometown for the first time since high school – and she still hasn’t told even her closest friends the truth of what really happened that summer after graduation or what made her leave so abruptly without looking back. Now reunited with her friends for a wedding, she’s determined to focus on the simple joy of being together again. But when she notices troubling signs that one of them might be in danger, she is catapulted back to that fateful summer. This time, Kasey refuses to let the worst moments of her past define her; this time, she knows how to protect those she loves at all costs.
Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Love In Colour by Bolu Babalola
A high-born Nigerian goddess feels beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover and longs to be truly seen. A young businesswoman attempts to make a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life. A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether to uphold her family’s politics or to be true to her heart.
Babalola takes the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology and rewrites them with incredible new detail and vivacity, reimagining magical folktales of West Africa, iconic Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East and stories from countries that no longer exist in our world.
Images: courtesy of publishers
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