Joplin’s ghost
The life of Phoenix Smalls spins horrifically out of control as a long-dead music legend chooses her to continue his legacy, in this historical novel—part love story, part ghost story—from acclaimed horror novelist Tananarive Due. When Phoenix Smalls was ten, she nearly died at her parents’ jazz club when she was crushed by a turn-of-the-century piano. Now twenty-four, Phoenix is launching a career as an R&B singer. She’s living out her dreams and seems destined for fame and fortune. But a chance visit to a historical site in St. Louis ignites a series of bizarre, erotic encounters with a spirit who may be the King of Ragtime, Scott Joplin. The sound of Scott Joplin is strange enough to the ears of the hip-hop generation. But the idea that these antique sounds are being channeled through Phoenix? Her life is suddenly hanging in the balance. How will she find her true voice and calling? Can the power of her own inner song give Phoenix the strength to fight to live out her own future? Or will she be forever trapped in Scott Joplin’s doomed, tragic past? Stunningly original, Joplin’s Ghost is a novel filled with art and intrigue—and is sure to bring music to readers’ ears.
Laelia
Tired of the men in their lives, three long-suffering, African-American sisters—Rebecca, Claudia, and Gracelyn Cates–set out to find a way for them to enjoy their senior years without having to worry about drunken Timothy, confused Jake, or terminally ill Bernard, coming up with a plan that will turn their lives, their church, and their town upside down.
If sons then heirs
The critically acclaimed author of Black Ice, Pride, and The Price of a Child offers this deeply moving story of a family’s challenge to reunite, understand the truth about its past, and secure its legacy.
Once upon a day
Nineteen years ago, a famous filmmaker disappeared from Los Angeles, taking his two children, Dorothea and Jimmy, to a desolate corner of New Mexico. There he raised them in complete isolation without television, computer, radio — not even a newspaper. Now, at twenty-three, Dorothea leaves in search of her missing brother — and ventures into the outside world for the first time. Her search becomes an odyssey of discovery when Dorothea meets Stephen Spaulding, a cab driver dealing with his own mysterious history. With him as her guide, Dorothea uncovers the truth of her family’s past and the terrifying day that changed her father forever. Together, they have a chance to discover that although a heart can be broken by the tragic events of a day, a day can also bring a new chance at love and a deeper understanding of life’s infinite possibilities.