First published 2023
A daughter in "Due North" feels her father's spirit lingering after his death, searching for answers about why he won't rest. In "Who's Down?" a man abandons his brief experiment with vegetarianism and asks his daughter to secretly order him a double cheeseburger. A mother in "Candy for Hanif" makes her usual store run for her disabled son but finds herself remembering a moment when she nearly died. In "Woman in Niqab," a young woman suspects her father of cheating and responds by showing her uncovered hair in public. A federal agent in "New Mexico" watches a Nation of Islam leader while his own family life falls apart. These ten stories follow Black Muslims as they wrestle with the gap between their beliefs and their actions. The characters face choices about race, religion, money, politics, and sex while living in a country that expects them to abandon their faith for mainstream acceptance.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, african-american, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, found-family
Setting: Due North, New Mexico, North America
Period: 21st-century
256 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster