PRE-ORDER NOW THE NEW NOVEL BY CHARMAINE WILKERSON, THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF BLACK CAKE.
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When Ebby Freeman travels to France to take a three-month hiatus from her complicated home life, the last person she expects to find is her ex-fiancé Henry, with his new girlfriend in tow.
Nearly twenty years earlier, the Freemans were the only African American family living in a wealthy coastal enclave in Connecticut when armed robbers invaded their family home and tragedy changed their lives forever. Then, just as Ebby thought she had a new chance at happiness, her storybook romance with Henry fell apart.
Now, this unexpected encounter with Henry will force Ebby to reckon with her past and to think on the other loss her family suffered that day - the destruction of a beloved stoneware jar crafted by an enslaved ancestor and passed down through the generations. A piece that might hold not only her family history, but also the key to reclaiming her future.
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Praise for Charmaine Wilkerson and Black Cake:
'Completely blew me away'
Red
'Unputdownable. Astonishing. Twists and turns so shocking they will leave your head spinning and your heart aching'
Grazia
'You can't help but fall in love with this book'
Stylist
'A novelist to watch'
Independent
'Beautiful, deeply resonant . . . A story that is as meaningful as it is delicious'
Taylor Jenkins Reid, bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
'A rich, complex and really satisfying novel'
Alison Finch, BBC Radio 4
'A delicious and gripping tale that sweeps the reader across decades and continents'
Guardian
'A book that is both universal and unique.'
Afua Hirsch, bestselling author of Brit(ish)
'This novel has a tremendous heart at its centre, and I felt its beat on every page. What an extraordinary debut'
Mary Beth Keane, bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes
A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF 2025
A PRIMA BOOK OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS
LONGLISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION
'A beautifully imagined family saga'
NEW YORK TIMES
'Chapters that push your tear ducts to the limits'
SCOTSMAN
'A moving multigenerational tale'
WASHINGTON POST
'Remarkable . . . Lingers long after the final page'
ABI DARÉ
'A novelist to watch'
INDEPENDENT
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'Forget the wedding. Forget the shooting'
The trouble is Ebby Freeman can never forget.
Not the ex-fiancé who walked out on their wedding day.
Not the death of her brother when she was a kid.
Not the family whose expectations she must carry alone.
Ebby's life and heartbreak have been so terribly public that now all she wants to do is hide. But fleeing her Connecticut home for France doesn't stop her running into her ex and his new girlfriend.
Stuck with the last people she wants to see, Ebby faces a choice. Keep trying to forget the pain of the past, even though no one will let her...
Or find her own way of remembering?
Praise for Charmaine Wilkerson:
'Completely blew me away' Red
'Unputdownable. Astonishing. Twists and turns so shocking they will leave your head spinning and your heart aching' Grazia
'Beautiful, deeply resonant . . . A story that is as meaningful as it is delicious' Taylor Jenkins Reid
