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Running to Fall: A Novel
by Kalisha Buckhanon

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Publication Date: Nov 01, 2022
List Price: Unavailable
Format: Paperback, 334 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9780979637407
Imprint: AALBC Aspire
Publisher: African American Literature Book Club
Parent Company: AALBC.com, LLC

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Book Description:

Also Available in Hardcover


“Riveting.” —Amazon Book Review
A 2022 Essence, Bustle and The Root Book Pick

From the award-winning author of Speaking of Summer comes a “breathlessly suspenseful” (Lisa Unger), truthful look into the lives of women who drink to survive or just to cope, with a provocative narrator who carries readers along an emotional journey to acceptance.

Tragedy and Victor Powell have moved to the desirable but dark Grayson Glens enclave of dream homes just outside of Chicago. Stressed urbanites, they’ve got to live large in real life to stay large online. With only a few blacks in their elite gated community, they settle in but never quite feel at home. Then, a missing young black woman floats up in the Grayson River.

Is the spirit of the mysterious scarlet-lettered woman, Raven McCoy, haunting Grayson during the pandemic?

Tragedy, haunted by her own difficult checkered past versus Victor’s sterling history, thinks so. The pressure to manage his image for profit drives her to drink, even when his trying teen daughter visits. But Victor’s ex-wife, the Grayson gossip and a female detective all close in on Tragedy’s unraveling life. Then Tragedy spirals into addiction, past secrets and the local women’s fight for justice for a woman.

Editorial Reviews


2023 Independent Book Publishers Association Award Silver Winner Fiction: Mystery & Thriller
Nominated for Brown Girl Collective’s Favorite 2022 Mystery/Suspense Novel

“Atmospheric, lyrical, and full of surprises, Running to Fall is a mystery wrapped inside a moving story of love, female relationships, and how darkness lurks under even the most idyllic surfaces. Layered characters and beautiful prose pulled me into the gripping narrative, rooting for troubled Tragedy even as her life unravels. Buckhanon is a powerful writer, and one to watch, and her latest outing is as breathlessly suspenseful as it is deep.” —Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six

“Running to Fall is the compelling tale of a complicated woman haunted by her past, in a world haunted by a pandemic. It is the story of a woman named Tragedy, and the story behind her name. Her yearning for connection, refuge, and a stable home is masterfully juxtaposed against the isolation imposed on her by the alienating setting, as one of few Black residents of an Illinois exurb. She encounters a cast of equally complex women with their own secrets and regrets as she faces difficult truths and choices.” —Tiffany Gholar, author of A Bitter Pill to Swallow and The Unforeseeable Future

“With prose so incisive and knowing, you feel the meaning of the words as much as you understand it, Buckhanon can infuse a mystery tale with strands of isolation, addiction, secrets, and women we allow to be forgotten, and it’s riveting.” —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Book Review

“Buckhanon’s weaving of thriller elements into a literary novel works beautifully… Readers interested in the challenges Black women face in suburban America and in drinking narratives that are not overly redemptive will appreciate this polished, insightful novel.” —BookLife Reviews

“Buckhanon’s writing is evocative as she delves into the complexities of race and belonging in a society that is often hostile to people of color. With its compelling narrative and well-drawn characters, Running to Fall is a must-read for fans of contemporary fiction and social justice.” —KB in Bloom Book Blog




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