For a book-obsessed kid with a big imagination and a flair for drama, could anything be luckier than living in a library? Capturing her remarkable childhood and its impact, Sharon Washington's autobiographical Off-Broadway show brings its sense of wo...

Feeding the Dragon

Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father, Andrew, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiancé, and her own search-and-rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as Delia plans h...

Vanishing Acts

Blamed as a child for her baby sister's death, Dianne Rucker swore she'd never come back to Dentonville, Texas. But the kind aunt who took her in after her mother abandoned her is getting remarried, and she misses the cousins who came to be sisters, ...

Divas of Damascus Road

When your dreams come crashing down, what's next? In Essence bestselling author Grace Octavia's moving new novel, one woman must begin again when betrayal shatters the life she knew…Dawn Jones's sorority sisters thought she made a big mistake marryin...

Should Have Known Better

Rochelle Alers is an Essence best-selling author and winner of two Gold Penn Awards. Lessons of a Lowcountry Summer, another shining example of her exciting work, is a testament to her reputation as one of the most popular authors of romantic literat...

Lessons of a Lowcountry Summer

Award-winning journalist Elyse Singleton delivers what Essence calls “a gem - the perfect book to curl up with.”  Best friends Lilian and Myraleen, two African American women from rural Mississippi, travel to Europe during World War II to act as members of the Women’s Army Corps. During this time of segregation and destruction, both women discover love and heartbreak, triumph and defeat. 

This Side of the Sky

Award winner and national best-selling author Gwynne Forster has written Beyond Desire and When Twilight Comes. In Blues from Down Deep, Forster tells the story of Regina Pearson, a woman searching for the family she has never known. Unfortunately, her quest does not bring her the love and acceptance she expects. But just as the disappointment seems unbearable, Regina meets a man who is willing to show her what family is all about.

Blues from Down Deep

Although Summer and Misa secretly share the same family curse, each handles it differently. And then, one rainy night at a family reunion, an argument and an accident trigger a chain reaction that unravels years of family secrets and misunderstandings.  Norma L. Jarrett pens this inspirational Essence Book Club Pick about two feuding sisters who struggle to reconcile differences and renew their faith in God.

Sweet Magnolia

Lexi, Jewel, Jermane, Capri, and Angel are women trying to hold on to their friendship, even while the messiness of life gets in the way. They share many things - complicated relationships with men, the stress of professional life, and closeness to God. Fortunately, their lively Sunday brunch sessions keep them on track through their whimsical adventures.

Sundy Brunch

Claudia Mair Burney's mysteries featuring Amanda Bell Brown have been praised for their sassy combination of smarts and spirituality. Brown is a forensic psychologist with a spiritual background. When a murder investigation unearths connections to a ...

Murder, Mayhem & a Fine Man

Norma L. Jarrett's novels are peppered with humor, tragedy and faith in the Lord. In this raucous follow-up to Sunday Brunch, five girlfriends - Lexi, Capri, Jermane, Angel, and Jewel - find their lives becoming more and more chaotic, even as they discover God's plans have ways of making themselves clear.

The Sunday Brunch Diaries

Essence best-selling author and winner of the Nubian Literary Award, Karen E. Quinones Miller was also named Author of the Year by Turning Pages Book Club. Passin' introduces Shanika Ann Jenkins - a light-skinned black woman who decides to remake herself. Shanika is blonde and beautiful. But after being rejected for a job she makes an incredible choice: to use her God-given assets to become the white woman she always imagined she could be.

Passin'

A Black Writers Alliance Gold Pen Award winner, Gwynne Forster has penned such best-selling novels as Blues from Down Deep. She is praised for her tales of personal struggles and romance. Coreen Treadwell heads a prominent social welfare agency, but ...

If You Walked In My Shoes

Essence best-selling author Jacquelin Thomas has garnered many honors for her acclaimed novels, including a nomination for the Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times.  With Defining Moments she crafts the stirring tale of one woman’s journey to...

Defining Moments

In Somebody's Sinning in My Bed, Pat G'Orge-Walker - best-selling author of the Sister Betty series - delivers a tale of infidelity and its consequences. Reverend Grayson Young and his wife Chyna seem to have the perfect marriage. Yet despite Grayson and Chyna's public railings against adultery, they're both involved in multiple affairs. And then the lecherous poser catches his wayward wife in flagrante.

Somebody's Sinning in My Bed

Claudia Mair Burney's mysteries starring forensic psychologist Amanda Bell Brown have garnered high praise for their wit, style, and sassy heroine. Ezekiel Thunder, a disgraced preacher, moves his family into town in an attempt to resurrect his career. But after his infant son drowns, Amanda suspects it wasn't an accident. Now Amanda is on the case and she's determined to find the truth.

Deadly Charm

In this acclaimed collection of short stories, Pulitzer Prizewinning author Stephen Millhauser shares the dark suspense and humor that have gained him a cult following. Millhauser’s imagination and creativity are on full display with stories featurin...

Dangerous Laughter

Award-winning Civil Rights advocate Mary Frances Berry sheds new light on the fight for reparations. Callie House, an ex-slave who led the fight, founded the Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty, and Pension Association in 1899. Defying conventions of race, class, and gender, Callie led the organization in an attempt to petition the government for the pension promised them as freedmen.

My Face is Black is True

Sonnie Beverly draws on her experiences with African-American church groups to create realistic characters. In this debut novel, three black women from one neighborhood take different paths to better themselves. It's in her small Virginia hometown wh...

Saved Folk in the House

Winner of the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award, The Voice that Challenged a Nation is an inspiring biography. In the 1930s, Black singer Marian Anderson was not allowed to perform at Constitution Hall. But with help from Eleanor Roosevelt, Anderson staged an amazing concert at the Lincoln Memorial and became an activist for civil rights.

The Voice that Challenged a Nation

Renowned journalist and respected author Farai Chideya makes her fiction debut with Kiss the Sky.Sophie "Sky" Lee is a washed-up rocker who yearns for the days when she poured her soul into music. She gets a second chance when a charity event reunite...

Kiss the Sky

A columnist who regularly contributes to The Nation and The Village Voice, Patricia J. Williams is also a professor of law at Columbia University and the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” award. In Open House, she shares her unique views on modern American culture and tells stories of her remarkable life. Her voice is powerful, provocative, and utterly charming.

Open House

Shawne Johnson’s emotionally stirring debut novel has been called “a rawer Waiting to Exhale.” Three African-American sisters, living in late 1960s Philadelphia, face issues such as drug addiction, racial tension, the Vietnam War, and the death of their father from lung cancer. Together they strive to avoid the dangers that surround them.

Getting Our Breath Back

Critically acclaimed author Bil Wright displays a gentle touch in this emotional tale of dealing with loss and learning to move on. When her husband “Turtle” suddenly dies, Rowtina Washington is shattered. She finds comfort when Turtle’s spirit visit...

One Foot in Love

The Georgia Barnett novels, including Hit Time, keep Yolanda Joe’s name at the top of Blackboard best-seller lists. In Video Cowboys, the Chicago TV reporter is thrust into a very perilous spotlight. A bomber has taken hostages at a local bank. If Georgia can’t get his videotape of demands on the major networks, people will die. Georgia needs the help of the Video Cowboys - fearless camera crew willing to do anything to get coverage. 

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