First published 2015
Bride, a successful executive with skin so blue-black it gleams, has built her entire identity around beauty and achievement. When her lover Booker suddenly abandons her after a childhood revelation about a traumatic event, Bride embarks on a raw, unsparing quest to understand her own origins and the deep psychological scars of childhood violence. Her journey takes her through unexpected encounters with characters bearing their own wounds—a woman seeking redemption, a teacher marked by past betrayals—each connection revealing how early trauma reshapes lives across generations. As Bride confronts the violence that fractured her family, she discovers that healing demands confronting the most painful memories head-on.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, african-american, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: redemption, self-discovery
Setting: United States
Period: 19th-century
178 pages · Hardcover · Alfred A. Knopf
Content warnings: child-abuse, emotional-abuse, violence