Black writing

Modern American writing (authors L-Z)

Authors | A-K | L | M | N | P | R | S | T | W | Y | Z |

Lett, Sylvia [USA]

Like never before [ROM]
Kensington, 2008
Greg, realising he was wrong to leave Danielle during university, decides to return to Dallas to woo her, but she's got a secret that could change things forever.

McFarland, Gail [USA]

Dream runner
Genesis, 2008

McCollers, Tia [USA]

A heart of devotion
Moody Publishers, 2005

McKayhan, Monica [USA]

The pact
Kimani, 2008
Break up for the summer. That's the deal Indigo makes with her boyfriend, Marcus. That way, they can enjoy their vacations, no guilt, no questions asked. Not that Indigo isn't worried when Marcus heads to Texas to spend time with his estranged mother - kissing Marcus goodbye is hard enough, and who knows who'll be kissing him in Houston?

McMillan, Terry[USA]

How Stella got her groove back
Viking, 1986/Penguin, 1997
Spoken Word
A novel about a woman who unexpectedly finds love - but has she lost her mind?

The interruption of everything
Viking, 2006
In her forties, bored to tears, and feeling the strain of having raised three children, Marilyn Grimes is facing up to the menopause. But when she finds out that her hormonal mood swings have not been caused by the midlife change, and that she is in fact pregnant, her life is about to change dramatically.

This body
MacMillan, 2007

Maddox, S.R. [USA]

Southern fried standards [ROM]
Genesis, 2008

Madlock, Felicia [USA]

Back on the block [CRI]
Urban Books, 2008
When Recy Clark's foster mother is brutally murdered, she is forced to go back to the place she has been trying to forget - her old neighbourhood. But with officer Jonathan Jones on the trail of main suspect David Blackwell, Recy may hold the key - and it may tear apart everything that Jonathan holds dear.

Mallette, Gloria [USA]

The honey well
Dafina, 2004
Nothing will stand in the way of Esther's drive to make money - not even her only child, Arnell. She is employing her daughter as one of her 'ladies of charm' as she refers to them. Despite promises that she can quit after college, Arnell will never overcome the shame and trauma her mother has put her through.

Marshall, Paule [USA]

Daughters
Serpent's Tail, 2004
Ursa Mackenzie is a black woman caught between two cultures - the USA and the Caribbean. Rejecting the lure of success, Ursa turns her back on a well-paid corporate job and a stable, if loveless, relationship with a black academic. Remaining true to herself involves returning to Triunion, her Caribbean island.

Martin, Victor L. [USA]

A hood legend
Triple Crown Publications, 2004

Massey, Brandon (ed)

Twisted tales [HOR]
Dafina, 2006
Legendary horror master Brandon Massey has gathered together 14 brand-new tales for this shocking collection, bringing bloodcurdling terror and horrific nightmares to life.

Voices from the other side: dark dreams II - horror and suspense by Black writers [HOR]
Kensington, 2006
Delving into the dark side of modern fiction, this collection of bone-chilling stories covers every arena of the imagination from the straight-up ghost story to modern fables of dislocation and madness.

Miller, Monique [USA]

Soul confessions
Urban Books, 2008

Mitchell, D. [USA]

Chaos in the capital city
Q-Boro, 2008

Morrison, Toni [USA]

The bluest eye
Chatto & Windus, 1979/Picador, 1990
Spoken Word
The Bluest Eye chronicles the tragic, torn lives of a poor black family in 1940s Ohio. Pecola, unlovely and unloved, prays each night for blue eyes like those of her privileged white schoolfellows.

Jazz
Chatto & Windus, 1992/Picador Pan, 1993
Spoken Word
Joe Trace shoots his lover, the impetuous 18-year-old Dorcas. At the funeral his determined, hardworking wife Violet tries to disfigure the corpse with a knife. Their story captures the complex humanity of black American urban life at that time.

Love
Chatto & Windus, 2003/Vintage, 2004
Many women are obsessed by Bill Cosey, owner of the Cosey Hotel and resort. More than just the owner he shapes their yearnings for a father, husband, lover, guardian and friend. Even after his death he dominates their lives. Yet he was driven by secret forces - a troubled past and a woman called Celestial.

Song of Solomon
Picador, 1989/Vintage, 1998
Spoken Word
This is the story of Macon Dead as he makes a voyage of rediscovery, traveling southwards geographically and inwards spiritually. Through the enlightenment of one man, the novel recapitulates the history of slavery and liberation.

Sula
Chatto & Windus, 1973/Vintage, 1998
This is a novel set in a small town in Ohio, focusing on two girls, Nell and Sula, both black, both poor, who share their dreams until Sula escapes to live a vagrant city life for ten years. When she returns, the bond of their friendship is broken.
Spoken Word

Tar Baby
Chatto & Windus, 1981/Vintage,1997
Spoken Word
Jadine's son is a criminal on the run, uneducated, violent, contemptuous. He is a threat to her freedom: she is a threat to his identity.

Mosley, Walter [USA]

Always outnumbered, always outgunned [CRI]
Serpent’s Tail, 1998 / 2002
Spoken Word
Socrates Fortlow is Walter Mosley's most compelling character since Easy Rawlins, a tough, brooding ex-convict and is set to be a bold and original new hero.

Bad boy Brawly Brown [CRI] An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Serpent’s Tail, 2002
Easy Rawlins is out of the investigation business and as far away from crime as a black man can be in 1960s Los Angeles. But living around desperate men means life gets complicated. When his old friend asks for Easy's help, he finds he can't refuse.

Black Betty [CRI] An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Serpent’s Tail, 1994/Pan, 1995
There's a Kennedy in the White House and Martin Luther King is in the news but Easy Rawlins' real estate business is in a deep hole. His trouble deepens when he is asked to look for a missing woman, a housekeeper called Elizabeth Eady, aka Black Betty.

Blonde faith [CRI] An Easy Rawlins mystery
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2008

Cinnamon Kiss [CRI]
An Easy Rawlins mystery
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005
Spoken Word
Walter Mosley's new novel pits Easy Rawlins against his greatest ever challenge

Devil in a blue dress [CRI] An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Pan, 1992
Ebony Reads Top 25 title
Video/Spoken Word
Set in the summer of 1948 in Los Angeles, this novel tells of the trouble that Daphne Monet gets into when she disappears with a trunkload of someone else's money.

Diablerie
Bloomsbury, 2008

Fear itself [CRI] A Fearless Jones Mystery
Serpent’s Tail, 2003
Paris Minton doesn't want any trouble. He minds his bookshop and his own business. But in 1950s Los Angeles, sometimes trouble finds him. When the nephew of the wealthiest woman in LA is accused of murder and goes missing, she enlists the help of Paris and his friend, Fearless Jones.

Fear of the dark [CRI] A Fearless Jones mystery
Serpent's Tail, 2007
'I'm in trouble, Paris'. Paris Minton has heard these words before. They mean only one thing, that his neck is on the line too. So when they are uttered by his lowlife cousin Ulysses S. Grant, Paris keeps the door to his bookshop firmly closed. With family like Ulysses who needs enemies?

Fearless Jones [CRI] A Fearless Jones Mystery
Serpent’s Tail, 2001
Paris Minton is minding his own business when a beautiful woman walks in & asks a few questions. Before he knows it, he has been beaten up, shot at, robbed & his bookstore has been burned to the ground. He must get Fearless Jones out of jail to help him.

Fortunate son
Serpent's Tail, 2006
In spite of remarkable differences, Eric and Tommy are as close as brothers. Eric, a Nordic Adonis, is graced by endless good fortune; Tommy is a sickly black boy, who still remains optimistic and strong.

Gone Fishin’ [CRI] An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Serpent’s Tail, 1997/8
It is 1939. In Houston, 19-year-old Easy Rawlins and his friend Mouse Alexander are about to take the ride of a lifetime - into a mysterious bayou world of voodoo, sex, revenge and death that changes their lives and links their destinies forever.

Killing Johnny Fry: a sexisential novel [CRI]
Bloomsbury, 2007
When Cordell Carmel catches his long-term girlfriend in the throes of ecstasy with another man something profound happens to him. Overnight the calm life of this middle-aged translator becomes something unrecognisable. As the boundaries of his routine existence dissolve, he finds himself prey to thoughts of murder.

Little Scarlet [CRI] An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005
Just after riots tear through Los Angeles in 1965 the police turn up at Easy Rawlin's door to ask for his help. A man was wrenched from his car by a mob at the riots' peak and escaped into a nearby apartment building. Soon after, a woman is found dead in that building - and the man is the obvious suspect. But the man has vanished.
Spoken Word

A little yellow dog [CRI] An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Serpent’s Tail, 1996/Picador, 1996
The year is 1964. Easy Rawlins has given up the street life that brought him so much grief, and now has a job as a high school janitor. When a teacher goes missing, Easy is left with a murder case, and a dog.

The man in my basement [CRI]
Serpent’s Tail, 2004
Charles Blakey is a young black man whose life is crumbling. His parents are dead, he can't find a job, he drinks too much and he has fallen behind with the mortgage payments for the home that has belonged to his family for generations. When a stranger offers him $50,000 in cash to rent the basement, he can't say no.

A red death [CRI] An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Serpent’s Tail, 1992/Pan, 1993
When an income tax officer makes him an offer he can't refuse, Easy Rawlins is forced out of retirement and into the infiltration of his local church, the First American Baptist. Murderers strike and he becomes the prime suspect of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Six easy pieces: Easy Rawlins stories [CRI] Easy Rawlins Mysteries
Serpents Tail, 2003/Atria Books, 2003
With the love of a good woman and two children, Easy Rawlins has put his past life of trading favours behind him. Following the loss of his best friend and sidekick, Mouse, he wants to set an example for his children by earning an honest living. But trouble has a way of finding Easy on the mean streets of Watts.

Walkin’ the dog
Serpent’s Tail, 2000 / 2002
Spoken Word
This story sees the return of Socrates Fortlow. He confronts wrongs that most people would rather ignore and comes face-to-face with the most dangerous of emotions: hope.

White butterfly [CRI] An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Serpent’s Tail, 1993/Pan, 1994
Set in Los Angeles in 1956, this novel tells of good-time girls who are being murdered and savagely mutilated. The police don't care as long as they are black. But when a white girl is killed, the powers that be demand action.

Murray, Victoria Christopher [USA]

The ex files
Simon & Schuster, 2007

Grown folks business
Touchstone, 2005
Her seemingly idyllic marriage to Quentin shattered by his confession that he is bisexual and in love with another man, Sheridan Hart struggles to cope with their compromised business partnership and the emotional reactions of their son and daughter.

A sin and a shame
Touchstone, 2006

Nelson, Jill [USA]

Sexual healing
Serpent’s Tail, 2004 / Pocket Books, 2005
Bored with her job as a copy editor and following a string of failed relationships, Lydia Beaucoup jokingly suggests to her best friend Acey Allen that they should open a brothel for women. But the two friends realise that with this daydream they may have actually struck gold.

Norman-Bellamy, Kendra [USA]

For love and grace
BET, 2004
When the mother of Derrick Madison is killed in an horrific road accident, fate dictates that his best friend, Gregory Dixon, should be the surgeon responsible for saving the life of the driver who killed her. This is only the start of a chain of events that will test the strength of their friendship to the limit.

Parker, Veronica [USA]

A heart's awakening [ROM]
Genesis, 2008

Parks, Suzan-Lori [USA]

Getting Mother’s body
HarperCollins, 2004
Spoken Word
In the 1950s, in a small US town, the Beedes represent the lowest of the low, shackled by poverty and their own lack of ambition. All but young Billie, who has a plan involving her dead mother, the only Beede to ever make good.

Phillips, Delores [USA]

The darkest child
Soho Press, 2004

Poole, Daaimah [USA]

Got a man
Dafina, 2003

What's real
Dafina, 2005
Given the chance, Janelle, Natalie and Tanya like to live it up with the rappers, balers, celebrities and VIPs of Miami. But before their wild ride is over, one of them is going to party too hard - and they all learn the fact that all that glitters is not always gold.

Price, Richard [USA]

Freedomland [CRI]
Bloomsbury, 1998/1999
With 'Freedomland', the bestselling author of 'Clockers' tells his most emotionally charged story yet. An injured woman claims that a car-jacker has kidnapped her son. However, a shrewd police officer and an ambitious young reporter smell a hoax.

Lush life
Bloomsbury, 2008
'So, what do you do?' Whenever people asked him, Eric Cash used to have a dozen answers. Artist, actor, screenwriter. But now he's 35 and he's still living on the Lower East Side, still in the restaurant business, still serving the people he wanted to be.

Samaritan
Bloomsbury, 2003/2004
Ray Mitchell is lying in a hospital bed, drifting in and out of consciousness, his head a bloody mess of swabs and bandages. He knows who did it, but he's not saying.

Rainey, Doreen [USA]

The game of love [ROM]
Kimani, 2006

Pursuit of love [ROM]
BET Arabesque, 2005
Danielle Kennedy's drive and hard work made her the hottest supermodel in the industry. Her arrogance - and losing sight of what really mattered - cost her everything. Now she's determined to prove she's a true professional, but her last chance depends on Xavier Johnston - a powerful producer whose career she almost ruined.

Rashan, Nikki [USA]

Double pleasure, double pain
Urban Books, 2008
Kyla, a 26 year-old woman, is right in the middle of her comfort zone. She has a supportive family, a loyal sweetheart of four years and a group of close-knit friends. But when she enrolls at a local university she soon develops a strong physical attraction towards Steph, a fellow female classmate.

Ray, B.K. [USA]

South Side dreams
Urban Books, 2005

Ray, Francis [USA]

Like the first time
St. Martin’s Griffin, 2004
From a bestselling author comes a dramatic novel about three women who must face betrayal and forgiveness, old loves and new, and starting all over again.

Someone to love me [ROM]
St. Martin's, 2003

Undeniable [ROM]
Kimani Books, 2007

You and no other [ROM]
St. Martin's, 2005

Reid, Maryann [USA]

Mary your baby daddy
St. Martins Griffin, 2005
When three sisters inherit a fortune from their grandma, they discover there is a catch: to get the cash, each must marry the father of their child within six months. Each is in a complex relationship, or so it seems. Did grandma really know better?

Robinson, Cheryl [USA]

If it ain’t one thing
New American Library, 2005
Winona Fairchild has made more than her fair share of mistakes in life, but now she's coming home to Detroit to make things right. She meets Porter Washington, a man with his own devastating failures and secrets. Will they be able to put their regrets and pain in the past and face a brighter future together?

Rochon, Farrah [USA]

Release me [ROM]
Leisure Books, 2008
Tobias Holmes is making a name for himself in the music industry where he gives raw talent a star turn. Sienna Culpepper has spent years convincing herself that Toby will never be able to see her as a woman instead of just a childhood friend. So, it seems too good to be true when Toby starts responding to the heat simmering between them.

Russell, Trista [USA]

Going broke
Urban Books, 2005
Faced with her boyfriend's string of infidelities, Sarai has no choice but to kick him out. Up until now she never realised just how far in debt she was. So, when a stranger propositions her to do the unthinkable, Sarai takes the plunge into a world where the line that separates love and financial gain is blurred.

Sallis, James [USA]

Cripple Creek [CRI]
No Exit Press, 2007
Ex-policeman, ex-con, former therapist Turner has become Deputy Sheriff in the small town within driving distance of Memphis, Tennessee, to which he has migrated in hope of escaping his past. His life is mending as he and Val Bjorn grow closer. Then a young man is forcibly sprung from jail after Sheriff Don Lee is brutally assaulted

Salt river [CRI]
No Exit Press, 2008
Two years have passed since John Turner, ex-policeman, ex-con, war veteran and former therapist, lost the love of his life when she was shot as they sat together on the porch of his cabin. Now thrust into the role of Deputy Sheriff, he finds himself at the centre of his new community.

Skerrett, Joanne [USA]

She who shops
Strapless, 2006
Lana's sure all Wes needs to fit in and become her best friend is a makeover, and she knows just where to get it. Now, caught up in a hectic lifestyle filled with designer clothes, expensive high-lights, finger-aching bling, and other things her once-sensible life didn't demand, Wes is in for the ride of her life.

SMITH, Jacqueline M. [USA]

I was your fool
Urban Books, 2008
A troubled young lady seeks advice from a therapist - but it goes terribly wrong when she attempts to put that advice into action. She seeks revenge; and in doing so, tears apart the lives of many innocent people.

Stovall, TaRessa [USA]

The hot spot
Kimani Books, 2007

Swan, Rhonda [USA]

Busted Black
Pearl Books, 2005

Taylor, Mildred D. [USA]

Roll of thunder, hear my cry [ZONE]
Gollancz, 1977/Puffin, 1980
The Mississippi of the 1930s is a hard place for a black child to grow up in. Cassie begins to reach a painful understanding of life when she witnesses the hatred and destruction around her, and learns when it is important to fight for principle.

Taylor, Simona  [USA]

May summer never end [ROM]
BET Arabesque, 2006
When wealthy Evan Maynard concocts a plan to snare the heart of runaway Rissa Young, he inadvertently places both her and his family in danger.

Tucker, Pat [USA]

Infidelity
Urban Books, 2007
Dwayne Forrester has clawed his way out of the 'hood' and into the offices of a high-powered law firm, shedding friends and family along the way. Now he has a new life, a new wife and new friends. Winning the approval of his peers in court, Dwayne has finally arrived.
 

Turner, Nikki [USA]

Nikki Turner presents Street Chronicles: Girls in the game
One World Books, 2007

Turner, Nikki & Williams, Kashamba

Girls from da hood 2
Urban Books, 2008
Three tales featuring girls from da hood - Africa, Harmony and Unique.

Tyree, Omar [USA]

A do right man
Scribner, 1998/Simon & Schuster, 2004

Flyy girl
Scribner, 1997/Simon & Schuster,2002

Just say no!
Simon & Schuster, 2001/2002

Single mom
Scribner, 1999/Simon & Schuster

Sweet St. Louis: an urban love story
Scribner, 2000

Walker, Alice [USA]

By the light of my father’s smile
Women’s Press, 1998

The color purple
Women’s Press, 1983
Ebony Reads top 25 title 

In love and trouble: stories of black women [SS]
Harcourt, 1973/Women’s Press, 1984

Meridian
Women’s Press, 1982/ Phoenix, 2004

Now is the time to open your heart
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004/Phoenix, 2005
Spoken Word

Possessing the secret of joy
Cape, 1992/Vintage, 1993

The third life of Grange Copeland {first pub. 1970}
Women’s Press, 1991

The way forward is with a broken heart
Women’s Press, 2000/2001

You can’t keep a good woman down
Women’s Press, 2001

Weber, Carl [USA]

Baby momma drama
Dafina Books, 2006

Williams, Kashamba [USA]

Driven
BET, 2005
When an unseen tragedy occurs, Nasir's life begins to unravel and skeletons are soon jumping out of the closet. Nasir is young, haunted by his past and torn between street life and fatherhood. And with a new girl on the scene things are getting complicated.

Grimey
Triple Crown Publications, 2004
After suffering the loss of his little sister, Yatta is determined to find out who is responsible. With leads pointing in his direction, the first suspect on Yatta's list is her ex-boyfriend Cam.

Williams, LaTonya [USA]

Make you love me
Urban Books, 2006
Tangela has her sights set on super-sexy Tate Gibson. Unfortunately, so does everybody else. But Tangela finds him irresistible and she is determined to make sure he becomes hers alone. 

Williams, Tammy [USA]

Choices [ROM]
Genesis, 2008

Wright, Richard [USA]

Native son
Vintage, 2000 

Zane [USA]

Afterburn
Atria, 2005
When Washington, DC, chiropractor Yardley Brown goes to his local bank, it isn't only to make deposits into his account. He has long since accrued some interest in Rayne Waters, a bank employee who's too beautiful to be true - and too beautiful to be single. At least that's what Yardley believes, which is why he has never approached her.