The Book of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden

McFadden's masterpieces.McFadden took me on a melodious literary journey through time and place-complex, real, beautifully raw, and necessary.McFadden's prose lingers, giving me courage to stay committed to telling authentic stories that, while revealing of unspeakable truths, serve to unite us all.' Washington Post 'Another one of Bernice L. This is a story about the triumph of the human spirit over bigotry, intolerance and cruelty, and at the center of The Book of Harlan is the restorative force that is music.' Based on exhaustive research and told in McFadden's mesmeric prose, The Book of Harlan skillfully blends the stories of McFadden's familial ancestors with those of real and imagined characters.WINNER of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Fiction) A Washington Post Notable Book of 2016 'Simply miraculous.As her saga becomes ever more spellbinding, so does the reader's astonishment at the magic she creates.

But after the City of Light falls under Nazi occupation, Harlan and Lizard are thrown into Buchenwald-the notorious concentration camp in Weimar, Germany-irreparably changing the course of Harlan's life. When Harlan and his best friend, trumpeter Lizard Robbins, are invited to perform at a popular cabaret in the Parisian enclave of Montmartre-affectionately referred to as 'The Harlem of Paris' byblack American musicians-Harlan jumps at the opportunity, convincing Lizard to join him. After his prominent minister grandfather dies, Harlan and his parents move to Harlem, where he eventually becomesa professional musician. The Book of Harlan opens with the courtship of Harlan's parents and his 1917 birth in Macon, Georgia.

The Book of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden