by Tayari Jones
First published 2011
Dana Lynn Yarboro knows a secret that could destroy everything. In 1980s Atlanta, she lives as the hidden daughter of a man who maintains two separate families across town. When Dana befriends Chaurisse, a girl from her school, she realizes they share more than teenage concerns about boys and grades. They share a father. Chaurisse has no idea that her father James leads a double life, married to both her mother and Dana's. As the girls grow closer, Dana struggles with the weight of what she knows. She watches Chaurisse talk about her dad with innocent pride while Dana must pretend her own father barely exists. The friendship deepens even as Dana's burden grows heavier. She wants to tell the truth but fears losing the first real friend she has ever had. Meanwhile, the carefully constructed walls between James's two worlds begin to crack, threatening to expose the lies that have shaped both daughters' lives.
Genres: fiction, contemporary, family-drama, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, secrets
Setting: Atlanta
Period: 1980s
465 pages · Hardcover · Thorndike Press