“I think the question has to do with American memory and what, as a nation, we are prioritizing in that memory…”

Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo blends history and biography with the story of Ellen and William Craft, two remarkable people who escaped slavery, and through danger and constant challenges...

“If my mother and my grandma were in this book, how would they be? And what kind of love can I show them as a writer…” 

The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin brings readers to pre-Civil War New Orleans to meet a cast of strong, fierce women in a hope filled novel of freedom and liberation. Ruffin...

Two historical novels with elements of fantasy and folklore will bring readers from the battlefields of World War One to the last years of the Qing Dynasty in China.  

Katherine Arden’s The Warm Hands of Ghosts shows the terrors of war and the unsettling and fantastical things that can appear in its shadow. Arden...

“I describe this as a love story steeped in loss.” 

How We Named the Stars by Andrés N. Ordorica is a heartbreaking yet hopeful debut novel of first love, first loss and how we become ourselves. Ordorica joined us live at B&N Upper West Side to talk about growing into your identity, writing community legacy, his...

“To have freedom you have to give something up, to have love — to experience love as an action — there has to be something that you're willing to sacrifice…” 

Ours is the epic and lyrical debut novel by poet Phillip B. Williams, featuring unforgettable characters woven together with folklore and...