First published 2026
Fourteen-year-old Tati wants to know who her father is. The year is 1995, and her mother Nadia refuses to tell her. Her grandmother Gladys stays silent about their family history, including her reasons for leaving Land's End, Alabama in 1953. Tati starts digging into her family's past and discovers that every generation of Dupree women has kept secrets. She learns about Jubi in 1917, who tried to pass for white until she gave birth to Ruby. She uncovers Ruby's passionate relationship with Sampson in 1934 that resulted in another baby. She finds out about the night in 1980 that changed her mother Nadia's life forever. The Dupree women carry a mysterious curse that ensures they only give birth to daughters. This curse began with an enslaved ancestor who risked her life for freedom. As Tati pieces together seven generations of family history, she confronts the pain, resilience, and survival that define the women who came before her.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, family-drama, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, generational-trauma
Setting: Alabama, Land's End
Period: 1917, 1934, 1953, 1980, 1995
336 pages · Hardcover · Gallery/Scout Press