Today's books of the week are all suggested in connection with this year's celebration of Black History Month, and some are particularly linked to this year's theme of 'Saluting our Sisters'.
Crumbs from the Table of Joy by Lynn Nottage
Recommended by Mr Kemp
A fascinating and brilliantly written 90s play about an African-American family from Florida struggling to adapt to life in Brooklyn. Moving, funny, with great characters. It also goes into the unusual and curious history of Father Divine, a real-life 20th Century evangelist and self-appointed divinity. What a drama!
We Are Not Like Them by Pride and Piazza.
Recommended by Miss Cloke
It is a book about the friendship between two ladies, Riley and Jen, one black and one white and how their lifelong relationship is tested after one of their husbands, who is a cop in Philadelphia, shoots an unarmed black teenager leading to everyone in their community choosing sides; including Riley and Jen. It is about pride, and prejudice and that ‘not every story is black and white
American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes
Recommended by Mr Gardner
Sonnet form explorations of identity, culture and history from one of the most brilliant living poets.
Why I’m No Longer Talking About Race by Reni Eddo Lodge
Recommended by Miss Gill
Very insightful and thought provoking book about the living as a minority and the various emotions it can provoke in people when discussing race. Very inspiring to make you do something, however small to help start the conversation – the young generation are ready for such a discussion.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Recommended by Miss Gill
Heartwarming novel about black helps in Mississippi in the 1960s. It explores the friendship between three women and how they help each other to cross boundaries. Some real laugh out loud moments as well. Also a film to complement!
New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent – Edited by Margaret Busby.
Recommended by Dr Gaydon
With book extracts, essays, poems and speeches from an international cross-section of 200 women of African descent from the past two centuries, this 1000 page behemoth is the collection of voices you’ve probably never heard of but should definitely have! I’d be lying if I said I’d read every extract, but having this on my shelf for the past year to dip in and out of has been a revelation. The book contains moments of pure joy and sorrow, rage and hope, grace and brutality. For anyone really invested in trying to learn and understand more about the thoughts and experiences of this community, then this collection is for you. Current favourite entry: ‘Invocation’ by Lebogang Mashile (pp.635-636) – “Help us understand how to be fluid like water/How to be supple without losing our identity”.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Miss Cloete
I cannot recommend this novel (or this author) enough – it is a story about love, race and identity which makes you rethink the way you view the world. Spanning time, countries and continents – the tangible reality with which Adichie writes about human interactions makes it difficult to put down.
My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Mrs Cummings
Oyinkan Braithwaite’s wickedly comic novel about how blood is thicker than water. And a lot harder to clean up. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Weruche Opia whose voice really suits the characters. For older readers only.
Memphis by Tara M Stringfellow
Recommended by Miss Byrne
A powerful and challenging story of three generations of women in the American South: vivid and deeply moving. Warning: this novel includes some intensely upsetting scenes and topics, and is also suitable for older readers only.
Passing by Nella Larsen.
Recommended by Mr John
Passing, by Nella Larsen, tells the story of two friends, Clare and Irene, who reconnect on a hot summer’s day in 1920s New York City. Clare and Irene, unbeknownst to their white husbands, are African-American, but due to their light complexions, are able to ‘pass’ as Caucasian. The story follows them as they navigate the tensions of race and gender politics, and the devastating consequences that follow. In its raw portrayal of the struggles of conflicting identities, Larsen’s Passing is an intersectional masterpiece, and a must-read for those interested in black women’s literature.
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
Recommending by Dr Pryce
Spider the Artist by Nnedi Okorafor (https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/spider-the-artist/)
Recommended by Mr Green
I’ve not read a lot by Nnedi Okorafor but this near-future short story set in the Niger Delta really makes me want to try more. According to her official bio, Nnedi was 'born in the US to Nigerian immigrant parents'. She 'draws from African cultures to create captivating stories with unforgettable characters and evocative settings – she has two more complete stories on the free audio fiction podcast LeVar Burton Reads. (Sci-fi and fantasy fans may be interested to recall that Levar Burton played Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation).
Black by Design by Pauline Black
Recommended by Miss McLaren
Musician and actress Pauline Black was the lead singer with The Selecter, one of the key bands synonymous with the ska revival of the late 1970s. Her frank and honest autobiography vividly documents what it was like growing up as the adopted daughter of white parents in 1970s England, and movingly relates her journey to find her birth mother. Like recent memoirs by Viv Albertine and Kim Gordon, Black by Design also gives an insight into what it was like being a female artist in the predominantly male music industry, and sheds a not always flattering light on the chauvinism that persisted alongside the 2 Tone movement's more progressive politics.
Many thanks to everyone who offered recommendations for this post: we hope it's given you some interesting suggestions for future reading! If you're looking for further recommendations around BHM, you might like to check out our 2019 post here.
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