African American Historical Fiction

A Charleston belle with slavery on her conscience. A slave with rebellion in her heart. In South Carolina in 1858, no friendship could be more dangerous.  

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2017 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER 2016 AMAZON.COM #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD 'Whitehead is on a roll: the reviews have been sublime' Guardian...

Susie King Taylor, born a slave in 1848, would learn to read at secret schools and go on to teach countless others to read and write. Follow the course of the Civil War in her own words as she remembers her work as a nurse and teacher with an Army troop of African-American soldiers.

One of TIME’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time Winner of the L.A. Times Ray Bradbury Prize Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award The New York Times Bestseller Named a Best Book of 2019 by The Wall Street Journal, TIME, NPR, GQ, Vogue, and The Washington Post "Gripping, action-packed...

Award-winning author Micaiah Johnson invites you to Abernathy House. "You’ve never seen a haunted house like this one before.” —Kylie Lee Baker, USA Today bestselling author of Japanese Gothic A house, itself, is nothing. It’s not a shelter until it is sheltering someone. A house is a...

Veteran authors Everett and Kincaid present an uproarious send-up of one of America's most controversial American icons. "[A]n outrageously funny satire of race relations and racism, US history, contemporary sexual mores and behavior, academia, and the publishing industry . . . It could become a...

Sometimes the power of love . . . A.J. Grayson has come a long way from adopted orphan to fast-rising executive at a cutting-edge technology firm. Now an anti-terrorist agency wants to use the revolutionary artificial intelligence system she developed to thwart a plot against Jafir's...

“With its unflinching excavation of our dark past, American Nightmare is a page turner with a message.”—Tayari Jones, New York Times bestselling author of Kin In this haunting historical novel, a light-skinned Black man goes undercover to investigate lynchings in the South, only to be...

From Marlon James, author of the bestselling National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf, comes the second book in the Dark Star trilogy. In Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Sogolon the Moon Witch proved a worthy adversary to Tracker as they clashed across a mythical African landscape in search...

“Masterfully flips the first installment on its head... James makes the mythic tantalizingly real.’” —Esquire "Even more brilliant than the first.” —Buzzfeed An Instant New York Times Bestseller and NPR Best Book of 2022 pick From Marlon James, author of the bestselling National Book...

This program includes a bonus conversation with the author and is read by acclaimed narrator Bahni Turpin, whose voice listeners will recognize from The Hate U Give, Children of Blood and Bone, and The Underground Railroad. From author Sarah Bird comes the compelling, hidden story of Cathy...

A 2025 Audie Awards WINNER | A WOMAN EVOLVE BOOK CLUB PICK | A NORTH CAROLINA READS PICK | A Christy Award WINNER | A 2024 American Fiction Award WINNER | Best Historical Fiction of 2024 (She Reads) | FEATURED IN GMA, WASHINGTON POST, AND ESSENCE | There is only one known queen who truly ruled a...

"Rumors had been whispered for more than a year. Outrages that had been accumulating all along took shape as evidence. A mother was knocked down the stairs by her cold-eyed daughter. Four damaged infants were born in one family. Daughters refused to get out of bed. Brides disappeared on their...

From the author of the National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf and the WINNER of the 2015 Man Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings "An undeniable success.” — The New York Times Book Review The Book of Night Women is a sweeping, startling novel, a true tour de force...

A transformative love story about two best friends who fall for each other, fall apart, and try to find their way back together in their tight-knit British-Jamaican community. South London, 1981: Daphne is the only Black girl in her class. All she wants is to keep her head down, preferably in a...

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK As the Civil War looms, a young girl must face a life-altering decision after awakening her sister’s ghost in this “poignant story of love, family and friendship [that] celebrates the power of liberation” (People). “An enrapturing tale of survival...

A student will find that the hardest lessons sometimes come from outside the classroom in this stunning dark academia novel from the acclaimed author of The Year of the Witching and House of Hunger. Lennon Carter’s life is falling apart. Then she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to...

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). A KIRKUS...

Named a Must Read by Ebony ∙ Boston Herald ∙ Book Riot ∙ Bookish ∙ Minneapolis Star-Tribune and more! A body falls from a town house window in Harlem, and it looks just like the newest singer at the Apollo...in this evocative, twisting new novel from the authorof Miss Aldridge Regrets...

“Super cinematic and every bit as Agatha Christie-esque as its sounds... ifyou like murder mysteries, pick this one up!” -Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers Named A Most Anticipated Mystery of Summer by Betches, Essence, Crime Reads and more! The glittering RMS...