Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new release titles from George S. Schuyler, Delia Cai, Bisi Adjapon, and more—that are publishing this week.
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Black Empire by George S. Schuyler
Here’s what Publishers Weekly had to say about Black Empire: “Originally serialized between 1936 and 1938 in a newspaper that served Pittsburgh’s Black community, these two linked novellas from Schuyler (1895–1977) are indispensable reading for anyone interested in early Afrofuturism. In ‘The Black Internationale: Story of Black Genius Against the World,’ journalist Carl Slater reluctantly agrees to serve as secretary to the ruthless Dr. Henry Belsidus, a wealthy Black American nationalist who, by the tale’s end, has violently wrested control of Africa from white imperialists. ‘Black Empire: An Imaginative Story of a Great New Civilization in Modern America’ continues the story with Belsidus and his crew of handpicked specialists defending their takeover of the African continent through cunning espionage and the deployment of technology ripped from the pages of the era’s science fiction magazines. In both tales, Schuyler, a journalist, steeps his progressive criticism of ‘white world supremacy’ in the palatable popular storytelling conventions of the day, creating rip-roaring yarns with sharp satirical points. The result, though undeniably pulpy, is still searing in its indictment of entrenched racism.”
Central Places by Delia Cai
Here’s what Publishers Weekly had to say about Central Places: “Cai’s uneven debut follows a newly engaged 27-year-old Chinese American woman who brings her white fiancé to her suburban Illinois hometown to meet her difficult mother and ailing father. Audrey, who works in sales for a magazine in New York City, reluctantly takes blue-blooded Ben, a photographer, with her to her hated hometown. Ben pushed for the trip, and he wins immediate approval from Audrey’s hen-pecked father, while Audrey’s stern mother reverts to her old habit of making Audrey feel like a constant disappointment. Ben does his best until a family night out at the Olive Garden, where they run into Audrey’s high school crush Kyle Weber, whom Ben talks down to. Making matters worse, Ben cuts the visit short after landing a plum assignment. Reunited with Kyle, Audrey thinks back on how they understood each other at their majority-white high school, as his mother is Mexican. Cai does a good job showing how Audrey was shaped by her mother’s disapproval, and there are plenty of engaging insights on race and class. On the other hand, the drawn-out passages on Audrey’s rekindled feelings for Kyle, which play a big part in shaping the final act, are a bit wearing. There seem to be two books at play, and one works better than the other.”
Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree (translated by Daisy Rockwell)
Here’s what Publishers Weekly had to say about Tomb of Sand: “This alluring, International Booker–winning saga from Shree (The Empty Space) employs magical realism to recount a matriarch’s rebirth in contemporary India. After Ma’s husband dies, she refuses to get out of bed, leaving her oldest son, Bade; his wife, Bahu (also known as ‘Mem Sahib,’ which means white woman living in India); his sons Siddharth and Serious Son; and his feminist sister, Beti, to worry. After receiving a cane covered in colorful butterflies from Overseas Son, Ma holds the cane up and says, ‘I am the Wishing Tree. I am the Kalpataru.’ From there, she gives away most of her possessions and disappears. Later, Ma returns—not to her wealthy son, Bade, but to Beti, and bonds with her old friend Rosie Bua, a hijra who understands the power of the Wishing Tree. The prominent characters’ names are honorifics (‘beti’ means daughter), as in the charactonyms of E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, and Ma goes on to challenge expectations of her role as a mother in her rebirth by pursuing autonomy and enlightenment. The leisurely pacing and drawn-out accounts from the various characters make for a slow burn, but Rockwell does a lovely job preserving the Hindi wordplay in Shree’s kaleidoscopic epic. This is worth signing up for the long haul.”
Maame by Jessica George
Here’s what Publishers Weekly had to say about Maame: “In this pitch-perfect debut, George captures the uncertainty, freedom, and anxiety of a London woman’s mid-20s. Narrator Maddie Wright is a people pleaser who earns the nickname Maame (‘the responsible one’) from her family. She has an unsatisfying theater admin job where she is often ‘the only Black person in the room,’ and while her older brother, James, lives his life as he wants and her mother spends most of her time in her homeland of Ghana, Maddie steps up as the main caregiver for her Parkinson’s afflicted father. Between her mother hitting her up for money and her incommunicative father, Maddie searches on Google for career guidance and dating advice, as well as remedies for panic attacks and grief. As her social life further dwindles and she worries she’ll always be a virgin, Maddie begins the ‘slow descent into a dull existence.’ Then her mother finally comes back to take care of Maddie’s father, and Maddie moves into a flat with two roommates who are determined to help her live a larger life, starting with a list of actions to turn her into ‘The New Maddie.’ But just as she’s getting a taste of independence, tragedy strikes at home and at work, and she’s forced to confront the microaggressions she faces in daily life, as well as ask herself how she deserves to be treated. The work’s ample magnetism resides in the savvy portrayal of Maddie as a complicated, sharp, and vulnerable person who is trying to figure out adulthood. Readers will revel in this.”
Daughter in Exile by Bisi Adjapon
Here’s what Publishers Weekly had to say about Daughter in Exile: “Adjapon (The Teller of Secrets) chronicles a Ghanaian woman’s wrenching story of migration, disillusionment, and resilience. Lola has an embassy job in Dakar, Senegal, in the late 1990s, and her relationship with American Marine Armand takes on higher stakes when Lola, unexpectedly pregnant, travels to America to give birth so their child will have U.S. citizenship. Soon, though, Armand disavows Lola, leaving her stranded. But the smart and resourceful Lola takes advantage of her diplomatic connections and her education to persist through an exhausting series of setbacks over the next several years, culminating in a 2007 immigration case that will decide her fate. Adjapon’s fast-moving, character-driven narrative illuminates the challenges faced by immigrants; Lola is constantly at risk of exploitation by potential employers, her housing situation is perpetually tenuous, and she struggles to find acceptance. As an immigrant, she feels alienated from African American communities, though she eventually finds something of a community with the members of a Christian church. Her trust, however, only goes so far, and Adjapon pulls off a strikingly frank portrait of a woman worn down by the system (waiting on news of whether she’ll be deported to Ghana, Lola reflects, ‘I welcome either choice. I’m weary of peripheral living’). Adjapon continues to dazzle.”
