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"McFadden's reissued second novel takes an unflinching look at the corrosive nature of alcoholism . . . This is not a story of easy redemption . . . McFadden writes candidly about the treacherous hold of addiction."–Publishers Weekly"Riveting. . . . So nicely avoids the sentimentality that swirls around the subject matter. I am as impressed by its structural strength as by the searing and expertly imagined scenes."–Toni Morrison, author of Beloved"The sharpness of the prose and power of the story make it hard to stop reading even the most brutal scenes . . . The story feels real perhaps because it’s familiar . . . Or maybe, as Frey points out, the story is too vivid to be read purely as fiction. But in this Precious-style novel, genre is the least of our concerns."–Bust magazine"This is a story that cuts across all race and social strata in its need to be told."–The Dallas Morning NewsThe Warmest December is the incredibly moving story of one Brooklyn family and the alcoholism that determined years of their lives. Narrated by Kenzie Lowe, a young woman reminiscent of Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John, as she visits her dying father and finds that choices she once thought beyond her control are very much hers to make.Bernice L. McFadden is the author of seven critically acclaimed novels.

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McFadden's last novel was a hit with book clubs, and this new novel should have an even stronger reception. McFadden has a strong appeal to African American women, while also appealing to a broader literary audience. Prominent reviews expected.

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“Nowhere Is a Place is a powerful portrait of family secrets, damage, and healing, probing deep below the surface of an African American family’s history to mend present day relationships . . . Ms. McFadden has a beautiful writing style that is simultaneously lyrical and transparent. In parts of the narrative, time seems to stand still as she describes an event in riveting minute to minute detail. Other times she employs a kind of poetic shorthand that condenses long periods of time, years even, into a few sentences.”–New York Journal of Books"An engrossing multigenerational saga . . . With her deep engagement in the material and her brisk but lyrical prose, McFadden creates a poignant epic of resiliency, bringing Sherry to a well-earned awareness of her place atop the shoulders of her ancestors, those who survived so that she might one day, too."–Publishers Weekly"Telling her story from two perspectives and on two levels–the mother-daughter relationship and Sherry's fictional account–McFadden brings added texture to this story of reconciliation."–Booklist“A poignant tale of self-discovery in the face of a complicated family history.”–Brooklyn Daily Eagle"Bernice L. McFadden’s Nowhere Is a Place is a hauntingly-disturbing and redemptive frame story of many generations of a Yamasee Native-American and African-American family from pre-slavery times until July 1995."–Bowling Green Daily News"With a good dose of poignancy about life and finding the wisdom of the world for ourselves, Nowhere is a Place is a fine addition to modern literary fiction collections."–The Midwest Book Review"Compelling, beautifully written, and profoundly human, McFadden has conjured a tale of a fractured family who journey across the country and back through history to unearth painful truths that unexpectedly reshape their relationships with each other."–Lynn Nottage, playwright, author of Intimate ApparelNothing can mend a broken heart quite like family. Sherry has struggled all her life to understand who she is, where she comes from, and, most important, 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 scenic sites 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.Bernice L. McFadden is the author of eight critically acclaimed novels including the classic Sugar, Gathering of Waters (a New York Times Editors' Choice), and Glorious, which was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine and was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award. She is a two-time Hurston/Wright Legacy Award finalist, as well as the recipient of two fiction honor awards from the BCALA. Her sophomore novel, The Warmest December, was praised by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison as «searing and expertly imagined.» McFadden lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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"McFadden works a kind of miracle–not only do her characters retain their appealing humanity; their story eclipses the bonds of history to offer continuous surprises."–New York Times, on Gathering of Waters"Riveting…so nicely avoids the sentimentality that swirls around the subject matter. I am as impressed by its structural strength as by the searing and expertly imagined scenes."–Toni Morrison, on The Warmest December"McFadden's lively and loving rendering of New York hews closely to the jazz-inflected city of myth....McFadden has a wonderful ear for dialogue, and her entertaining prose equally accommodates humor and pathos."–New York Times, on Glorious"An engrossing multigenerational saga…With her deep engagement in the material and her brisk but lyrical prose, McFadden creates a poignant epic of resiliency, bringing Sherry to a well-earned awareness of her place atop the shoulders of her ancestors, those who survived so that she might one day, too."–Publishers Weekly, on Nowhere Is a PlaceThe Bernice L. McFadden Collection features four novels from the three-time Hurston/Wright Legacy Award finalist: Gathering of Waters (a New York Times Editors’ Choice and one of the 100 Notable Books of 2012), Glorious (2010), Nowhere Is a Place (2006), and The Warmest December (2001).

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15,000-copy paperback printing, along with 5,000-copy hardcover run Bernice L. McFadden remains one of our best-selling novelists Her previous novel won the prestigious NAACP Image Award (other finalists in her category included: Jacqueline Woodson, Colson Whitehead, Yvvette Edwards, and Lawrence Hill) Her previous novels have received glowing reviews in the New York Times, Washington Post, O, the Oprah Magazine, on NPR, and have been praised by both Toni Morrison and Terry McMillan, among others There is strong film interest in several of her novels and it seems only a matter of time before one is developed into a film Her novels have been finalists for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award McFadden is currently teaching at Tulane University in New Orleans McFadden has strong e-book sales as well as strong library sales McFadden also does incredibly well with book clubs and has a very devoted fan following

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15,000-copy paperback printing, along with 5,000-copy hardcover run. Akashic has had great success with McFadden's two most recent novels, Glorious and Gathering of Waters, as well as reissues. Bernice is considered one of Akashic's top fiction authors, in the same camp as Joe Meno and Nina Revoyr. This is Bernice's most ambitious novel to date, tackling the rarely explored but very real historical topic of African Americans imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps. The novel is based in part on research into McFadden’s own familial history. McFadden is one of the most respected, award-winning African American authors writing today, and has been hailed by the New York Times, NPR's Alan Cheuse, Toni Morrison, Terry McMillan, and others. McFadden's E-BOOKS are Akashic's top-selling e-books (outside of GTFTS), and the major e-vendors have been very responsive to McFadden e-book promotions. This is something we intend to take advantage of. Extensive social media campaign. This has been an area of great success for us with McFadden as she has a very dedicated online following. Major book club outreach w/giveaways. This has been another area of big success for us with McFadden. Major academic outreach (African American Studies) Major broadcast & print media outreach

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"Bernice L. McFadden is one of the best contemporary literary writers out there today…Her brilliance, her talent as a novelist, is the very life she breathes into all of her characters."–Terry McMillan, from the Introduction"Bernice L. McFadden was one of the best writers to emerge in the post-Waiting to Exhale explosion that introduced at least a dozen Black female novelists. Loving Donovan has generated near-cult status among readers. After more than a decade since it appeared, Donovan is being reissued. How fitting that Terry McMillan has written a new introduction. If you've read Donovan before, you will fall in love all over again. And if this is your first time, prepare yourself for an intense romance between an enigmatic antihero and a heroine who will feel like your homegirl."–Essence Magazine"Loving Donovan is brilliant. By exploring the depth of her characters, the novel transforms what, on the surface, may appear to be the run-of-the-mill, paperback sentimental, tear-jerking coupling, into an understanding, unflinching, expertly told tale of human nature."–AALBCOne of Library Journal's 25 Key Indie Fiction Titles for Fall 2014-Winter 2015!"A two-time Hurston/Wright Legacy Award finalist also twice honored by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, McFadden presents a love story starring Campbell and Donovan–both from shattered homes, both still hopeful, and both shaped more by history than they can imagine. Don't miss."–Library Journal Prepub Alert"Loving Donovan firmly establishes McFadden among the ranks of those few writers of whom you constantly beg for more."–Black Issues Book Review"McFadden is clearly adept in keeping the reader entertained, captivated, and on our toes to try to figure out what's going to happen next. The rich characters, life situations, and language all wrapped up in such a small book and saying so much is a feat."–Brown Girl ReadingPraise for Bernice L. McFadden:"McFadden works a kind of miracle–not only do her characters retain their appealing humanity; their story eclipses the bonds of history to offer continuous surprises."–New York Times, on Gathering of Waters"Searing and expertly imagined."–Toni Morrison, on The Warmest DecemberWith a new introduction by Terry McMillan.The first section of McFadden's unconventional love story belongs to Campbell. Despite being born to a brokenhearted 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 daunting obstacles, Donovan dreams of someday marrying, raising a family, and playing in 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.

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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"Riveting. . . . I am as impressed by its structural strength as by the searing and expertly imagined scenes.”—Toni Morrison, on The Warmest December>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.aBernice L. McFadden is the author of six critically acclaimed novels, including the classic Sugar and Nowhere Is a Place, which was a Washington Post best fiction title for 2006. She is a two-time Hurston/Wright Legacy Award finalist, as well as the recipient of two fiction honors from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA). McFadden lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she is working on her next novel.

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