Bernice L. McFadden is the author of the national bestsellers This Bitter Earth, The Warmest December (shortlisted for the Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award), and Sugar, a Black Caucus of the American Library Association Fiction Honor Book. Bernice L. McFadden also writes racy, humorous fiction under the pseudonym, Geneva Holliday.
In the Fall of 1983 she enrolled in the noted NYC fashion college: Laboratory Institute of Merchandising, with dreams of becoming an international clothing buyer. She attended LIM for two semesters and then took a position at Bloomingdale's and later with Itokin, a Japanese owned retail company.
Disillusioned and frustrated with her job, she signed up for a Travel & Tourism course at Marymount College where she received a certificate of completion. After the birth of her daughter in 1988, Bernice McFadden obtained a job with Rockresorts a company then owned by the Rockefeller family.
The company was later sold and Ms. McFadden was laid off and unemployed for one year. She sights that year as the turning point in her life because during those twelve months Ms. McFadden began to dedicate herself to the art of writing. During the next nine years she held three jobs, always looking for something exciting and satisfying. Forever frustrated with corporate America and the requirements they put on their employees, Ms. McFadden enrolled at Fordham University. Her intention was to obtain a degree that would enable her to move up another rung on the corporate ladder.
She signed up for courses that concentrated on Afro-American history and literature, as well as creative writing, poetry and journalism. She credits the two years spent under the guidance of her professors as well as the years spent lost in the words of her favorite author's, to the caliber of writer she has become.
During those years, Ms. McFadden made a conscious effort to write as much as possible and began to send out hundreds of query letters to agents and publisher's attempting to sell one of her short stories or the novel she was working on.
In 1997, Ms. McFadden quit her job and dedicated seven months to re-writing the novel that would become, "SUGAR." In May of 1998, after depleting her savings, she took her last and final position within corporate America.
On Feb 9th, 1999, her daughter's eleventh birthday (and Alice Walker's birthday - one of Ms. McFadden's favorite author's) she sent a query letter to an agent who signed her two weeks later and the rest is literary history!
Read an AALBC.com on-line chat with Bernice McFadden
My
Name is Butterfly
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Print Length: 181 pages
Format: Kindle eBook
Publisher: Naki Publishing (April 7, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
The #3 Bestselling eBook on AALBC.com for 2012!
From National Bestselling, critically acclaimed, award winning author comes
the story of Abebe “Butterfly” Tsikata.
Abebe experiences plenty of joy in Ghana as the privileged daughter of a
government employee and stay at home mother. The love that her parents and
extended family lavish her with knows no bounds.
When the Tsikata’s idyllic life style begins to take a turn for the worse,
Abebe's father places a nine-year-old Abebe in a shrine, hoping that the
sacrifice of his daughter will serve as religious atonement for the crimes
of his ancestors. Unspeakable acts befall Abebe for the fifteen years she is
enslaved.
When Abebe is finally released back into the world and finds herself not
only dealing with the newness of Ghana, but also the fast-paced world of New
York, she is broken—emotionally, mentally, physically, sexually, and
spiritually. But to live the rest of her years on earth, she must learn to
overcome her past, endure familial secrets, and learn to love herself—the
good, the bad, and the ugly.
In the tradition of Chris Cleave's Little Bee - My Name Is Butterfly, is a
contemporary story that offers an educational, eye opening account into the
practice of ritual servitude in West Africa.
Spanning decades and two continents, My Name Is Butterfly will break and
heal your heart ….
Gathering
of Waters
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Hardcover: 250 pages
Publisher: Akashic Books (January 31, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1617750328
ISBN-13: 978-1617750328
Selected as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2012 by the New York Times
Gathering of Waters is a deeply engrossing tale narrated by the town
of Money, Mississippi--a site both significant and infamous in our
collective story as a nation. Money is personified in this haunting story,
which chronicles its troubled history following the arrival of the Hilson
and Bryant families.
Tass Hilson and Emmett Till were young and in love when Emmett was brutally
murdered in 1955. Anxious to escape the town, Tass marries Maximillian May
and relocates to Detroit.
Forty years later, after the death of her husband, Tass returns to Money and
fantasy takes flesh when Emmett Till's spirit is finally released from the
dank, dark waters of the Tallahatchie River. The two lovers are reunited,
bringing the story to an enchanting and profound conclusion.
Gathering of Waters mines the truth about Money, Mississippi, as well
as the town's families, and threads their history over decades. The
bare-bones realism--both disturbing and riveting--combined with a magical
realm in which ghosts have the final say, is reminiscent of Toni Morrison's
Beloved.
Lover Man
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by Geneva Holliday
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Broadway (June 9, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0767929659
ISBN-13: 978-0767929653
LOVER MAN finds two of our girls lusting for Mr. Right... but the trouble
comes when there's more than enough of him to go around.
After two years in Antigua, Crystal has had enough. Neville is her son's
father, her best friend, and her sometime lover, but Crystal realizes she
wants more. And that "more" struts into her life at just the right moment.
Claude Justine, widowed with a three-year-old daughter, has movie-star good
looks, an athlete's body, and cash to spare. After a short and steamy
long-distance courtship, Claude lures Crystal to his lavish New Jersey
mansion and introduces her to a jet-setting world where no pleasure is
spared and every desire is met.
Karma Jackson, newly made over and back in New York after a scandalous
affair in Europe, secures a position as an assistant to the president of a
hedge fund. On the prowl for someone who can give her what she wants, the
way she wants it, Karma falls for the cocky and irresistible C.J., and the
two begin a secret fling.
Geneva, now living in Brooklyn, listens to both women's tales of impromptu
helicopter rides and lingerie sprees, failing to make the connection between
the two men. But when Claude's web of lies starts to unravel, the truth is
even more outrageous than any of them could have imagined.
Glorious
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by Bernice L. McFadden
Paperback: 250 pages
Publisher: Akashic Books (May 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1936070111
ISBN-13: 978-1936070114
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
Read an AALBC.com Book Review written by Idrissa Uqdah
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"The seeming inevitability of cruel fate juxtaposes the triumph of the spirit in this remarkably rich and powerful novel, Glorious. Bernice McFadden's fully realized characters are complicated, imperfect beings, but if ever a character were worthy of love and honor, it is her Easter Bartlett. This very American story is fascinating; it is also heartbreaking, thought-provoking, and beautifully written."--Binnie Kirshenbaum, author of The Scenic Route
Bernice L. McFadden at 42nd NAACP Image Awards Nominees'
Luncheon
Glorious is set against the backdrops of the Jim Crow South, the Harlem Renaissance, and the civil rights era. Blending the truth of American history with the fruits of Bernice L. McFadden's rich imagination, this is the story of Easter Venetta Bartlett, a fictional Harlem Renaissance writer whose tumultuous path to success, ruin, and revival offers a candid portrait of the American experience in all its beauty and cruelty.
Glorious is ultimately an audacious exploration into the nature of self-hatred, love, possession, ego, betrayal, and, finally, redemption.
Keeper
of Keys (Kindle Edition)
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by Bernice L. McFadden
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 42 KB
Publisher: NAKI (August 29, 2009)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
A young woman finds out that she has AIDS and considers ending her life.
Nowhere is a Place
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by Bernice L. McFadden
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Dutton Adult (February 2, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0525948759
ISBN-13: 978-0525948759
McFadden weaves together a terrific multigenerational family tale that,
like Alex Hailey's Roots, will inspire readers to research their family
history. Writing in a mystical style similar to that of Gloria Naylor's
Bailey's Cafe, McFadden is an imaginative storyteller who mesmerizes
readers with her words."
- Library Journal
From Bernice L. McFadden, whom the novelist Adriana Trigiani calls 'a
master story teller,' comes a touching new novel about a young woman
uncovering a surprising family history filled in measure with dark
secrets and life-affirming wisdom
Her spectacular debut novel Sugar established Bernice L. McFadden as a
writer to watch in African-American literary fiction. In Nowhere is a
Place, she limns a fully realized and memorable portrait of a young
woman on a journey of self-discovery.
Sherry has struggled all her life to understand who she is, where she
comes from, and, most importantly, why her mother slapped her cheek one
summer afternoon. The incident has haunted Sherry and it causes her to
dig into her family's past. Like many family histories, it is fractured
and stubbornly reluctant to reveal its secrets, but Sherry is determined
to know the full story. In just a few days' time her extended family
will gather for a reunion and Sherry sets off across the country with
her mother, Dumpling to join them. What Sherry and Dumpling find on
their trip is far more important than a scenic site here and there'it is
the assorted pieces of their family's past. Pulled together, they reveal
a history of amazing survival and abundant joy.
Nowhere is a Place is a graceful, richly imagined work by McFadden; it
promises to bring a new audience of admirers.
Seduction
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by Geneva Holliday
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Broadway (June 10, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 076792746X
ISBN-13: 978-0767927468
In Geneva Holliday's latest novel of lust and revenge, Seduction
works both ways.
Mildred Johnson is the last woman on earth that gorgeous Tony Landry
would dare to be seen with. That is, until Tony wants to pull a scam on
the company where she works. In order to keep Mildred signing phony
documents, Tony gives Mildred a taste of romance and keeps raising the
stakes until he's eventually forced to propose. But when the big day
arrives he skips town with the money he's stolen.
Heartbroken, Mildred takes a trip to Barbados where her 'vacation' turns out to be a boot-camp style weight loss clinic! Soon she discovers a goddess that had been hiding beneath her homely exterior. And when she runs into Tony on the island, he doesn't even recognize the sexy fox standing before him. Little does he know that this fox has a plan for revenge that will leave him whimpering with his tail between his legs for a good, long time.
Heat
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by Geneva Holliday
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (June 26, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 076792116X
ISBN-13: 978-0767921169
Mildred Johnson is the last woman on earth that gorgeous Tony Landry
would dare to be seen with. That is, until Tony wants to pull a scam on
the company where she works. In order to keep Mildred signing phony
documents, Tony gives Mildred a taste of romance and keeps raising the
stakes until he's eventually forced to propose. But when the big day
arrives he skips town with the money he's stolen.
Mildred takes a trip to Barbados to mend her heartbreak but her
'vacation' turns out to be a boot camp'style weight loss clinic! Soon
she discovers a goddess that had been hiding beneath her homely
exterior. And when she runs into Tony on the island, he doesn't even
recognize the sexy fox standing before him. Little does he know that
this fox has a plan for revenge that will leave him whimpering with his
tail between his legs for a good, long time.
Fever
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by Geneva Holliday
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Broadway (April 18, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0767921151
ISBN-13: 978-0767921152
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
It's almost summer in New York City, and the heat is breaking records
on the street and between the sheets in Geneva Holliday's beyond-sexy
follow-up to Groove. When Geneva, Crystal, Chevy, and Noah get
hot and bothered, they get way more than they ever bargained for'
Geneva is busy caring for her daughter'and robbing the cradle with her
son's business manager. Chevy is working for a diva who requires
assistance that's way too personal for Chevy's liking. Crystal is in for
the surprise of her life when her mom (!) conspires to get Crystal's
engine purring like a kitten again. And Noah hears everyone's secrets,
miles away in London, but with these friends, secrets don't stay secret
for long! After all, what are friends for?
So slip into something slinky and get ready to catch the Fever!
Groove
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by Geneva Holliday
ISBN: 0767921143
Format: Paperback, 336pp
Pub. Date: June 28, 2005
Publisher: Broadway Books
Groove is the story of Geneva Holliday and her closest friends. Geneva is struggling to raise her fifteen-year-old son, Eric, in the projects in Harlem with a low-paying job and no romantic prospects other than booty calls with her ex-husband, even though he's remarried. She's even being stalked by the head of her weight-loss program. She feels like she's down and out, but if she only knew what her friends were up to. ..Girl, she'd be patting herself on the back!
Noah is gay and out and has a wonderful man waiting for him in London, but he's recently gone on the down low'secretly dating women since Beyonc' Knowles videos started getting him hot. Chevy spends her limited funds on weaves, colored contacts, and silk-wrapped nails, hoping to snag a rich man. She just borrowed $5,000 from their friend Crystal for "emergency surgery." Crystal doesn't know it was for breast augmentation'and she's got no idea that her wealthy, together-seeming boyfriend, Kendrick, agreed to move in with her only because his drug habit left him unable to pay his own rent. And is she the only one who thinks Chevy looks pregnant?
By the end of the summer the truth comes out and each of these friends has to face the music. ..and the DEA officers surrounding them in a hospital emergency room in Brooklyn.
Camilla's Roses
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by Bernice L. McFadden
ISBN: 0525947965
Format: Hardcover, 272pp
Pub. Date: April 2004
Publisher: Dutton Adult
The poignant tale of a woman who discovers the fragility of life and the strength of a family's love, from an author praised by Toni Morrison for 'searing, expertly imagined scenes'
Known for bringing to life a host of endearing characters who reveal tender truths about humanity, Bernice L. McFadden now turns her storytelling talents to an unforgettable and deeply troubled woman named Camilla.
Unfolding in a progression of stirring and powerful chapters, Camilla's Roses presents a life haunted by the past. Camilla's childhood was immersed in chaos and love, and steeped in the myth of perfection. As an adult, she never looked back, refusing to acknowledge the people and places that had scarred her so many years ago. But a legacy of cancer proves inescapable, forcing Camilla to embrace the past'no matter how painful it may be'and to salvage what is left of her love in order to save her daughter. As Camilla discovers the bittersweet limitations of motherhood and reconciliation, she also awakens an inspiring message about the mortality issues we all must face.
Loving Donovan
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by Bernice L. McFadden
ISBN: 052594706X
Format: Hardcover, 256pp
Pub. Date: January 2003
Publisher: Dutton/Plume
The first section of this unconventional love story belongs to Campbell.
Despite being born to a broken-hearted mother and a faithless father, Campbell
still believes in the power of love...if she can ever find it. Living in the
same neighborhood, but unknown to Campbell until a chance meeting brings them
together, is Donovan, the "little man" of a shattered home-a family torn apart
by anger and bitterness. In the face of these daunting obstacles, Donovan dreams
of someday marrying, raising a family, and playing for the NBA. But, deep
inside, Campbell and Donovan live with the histories that have shaped their
lives. What they discover-together and apart-forms the basis of this compelling,
sensual, and surprising novel.
A deeply thoughtful novel about hope, forgiveness, and the cost of loving
Donovan, this is certain to be another bestseller from a supremely gifted
author.
This
Bitter Earth
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by Bernice L. McFadden
Format: Hardcover, 288pp.
ISBN: 0525946365
Publisher: Dutton/Plume
Pub. Date: January 2002
This Bitter Earth picks up where Sugar left off: on the dirt road leading to Sugar's childhood home in Short Junction, Arkansas. Here, Sugar hears a shocking revelation about unrequited love, and about one man's hatred--and the black magic that has cursed generations. Her travels take Sugar to St. Louis, where the bonds of an old friendship test the limits of her courage and compassion--and the sacrifices she will make for another young woman in desperate need of a caring friend.
Filled with the lyrical language, haunting imagery, and compelling voice that imbued Sugar with its power and grace, This Bitter Earth is a novel about the inexorable power that the past exerts over us and about our ability to triumph over adversity and sorrow. Earthy and richly evocative, it is a testament to the ultimate triumph of the human spirit.
The Warmest December
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by Bernice L. McFadden
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Dutton Adult (January 11, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0525945644
ISBN-13: 978-0525945642
"Riveting. . . . I am as impressed by its structural strength as by the searing and expertly imagined scenes."Toni Morrison
Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in fiction, shortlisted for the Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award and 2001 Golden Pen Award - Best Mainstream Fiction
In her second novel, THE WARMEST DECEMBER, published by Dutton in
January 2001, Bernice L. McFadden establishes herself as a writer whose
lyrical prose and ability to tackle difficult topics will move even the
most stoic of readers.
Set in Brooklyn, NY, McFadden's birthplace and current residence,
narrator Kenzie Lowe tells an intensely moving story that begins with
her childhood in the 1970's growing up with her abusive, alcoholic
father, Hy-Lo. Everyday young Kenzie lives in fear that her too loud
footsteps, her too high voice, will unleash the animal that lurks within
her father. With every sip of liquor, with every hurtful word and
stinging slap, Kenzie's fear and hatred of her father grows. To get
through each painful day, Kenzie dreams of escaping Hy-Lo's prison and
fleeing from apartment A5 forever.
Eventually, Kenzie does grow up and leaves A5. She goes to school, she
holds odd jobs and develops her own craving for the bottle. Twenty years
have passed- it is now the 1990's- but not everything has changed for
Kenzie. She is still haunted by her childhood. Learning that her father
is in the hospital, Kenzie is shocked at her desire to be with him
during his final hours. She returns day after day to her father's
bedside in search of a way to quell her pain.
These trips to the hospital teach Kenzie that some of us, like Hy-Lo,
have stories that "started out bad, curdled andsouredin the middle and
ended up worse." Kenzie learns that some of us can't help what we do but
for many, there is still hope for change. Understanding this, Kenzie
begins toreclaim her own life, allowing her scars to heal and her heart
to forgive.
Bernice L. McFadden explains that she wrote THE WARMEST DECEMBER,
"because children of addictive and/or abusiveparents walk the thinnest
line between love and hate, sanity and madness, life and death."
Shechose this topic because she "wanted more' to help someone choose
love, sanity and life." In a bleak and chaotic world where violence is
all too rampant, THE WARMEST DECEMBER
teaches us that nothing is beyond our control.
Sugar
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by Bernice L. McFadden
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Plume (January 2, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0452282209
ISBN-13: 978-0452282209
Black Caucus of the American Library Association Fiction Honor Book
"McFadden's debut novel is an earthy slice of life in a small Southern town. When Sugar, a prostitute who never had a chance for love or a normal life, moves into the house next door to Pearl, a matron who lost her spirit after the murder of her daughter 15 years before, the two women form a bond strong enough to withstand even the most vicious gossip. But secrets from both of their pasts may prove too much even for these two compelling women, and Sugar must choose between her dreams for something better and the people she has learned to love. McFadden captures the full character of small-town life and the strengths and weaknesses of its people. This novel of friendship and loss is an excellent addition to the growing body of work by young African American writers". - Ellen Flexman, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
"Driven mightily by engaging characters, Sugar is written with a wonderful combination of wit and heart." - Yolanda Joe, author of He Say, She Say and Bebe's By Golly Wow!
From The Publisher
An exceptional debut novel that explores a most unlikely friendship between a churchgoing
Southern woman and the bewitching young prostitute who moves in next door.
Set in the fictionalized town of Bigelow, Arkansas, circa 1950, Sugar is a rich and moving story that traces the lives of two unforgettable women and the small community they change. After the horrible death of her young daughter, Jude, Pearl Taylor turns to the church for support, suppressing her own desires. But when Sugar, a beautiful, uninhibited spirit (who resembles Jude with eerie similarity) moves into the neighboring home at 10 Grove Street, Pearl's life is irrevocably and dramatically changed. Over sweet potato pie the two woman learn to trust and confide in each other, but when the local gossips discover that Sugar is a prostitute, Pearl shocks the once quiet town-and herself-by remaining loyal to her new friend.
Filled with lyrical prose, McFadden reveals her talent for using language with an almost spiritual grace to describe the vivid and mysterious details found in everyday life. Sugar is a timeless story of what it means to accept and to forgive.
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