ISSA JAN 2021 STACK
ISSA JAN 2021 STACK
January 2021 will see some AMAZING literature being published by new diverse, young writers, that cover a range of topics.
Here are some of the ones that caught our eye; (To shop any of the above titles, click here)
Memorial - Bryan Washington
Mrs Death Misses Death - Salena Godden
The Prophets- Robert Jones Jr
A River Called Time - Courttia Newland
Fragile monsters - Catherine Menon
The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr - 5th January 2021
Isaiah and Samuel are lovers. The barn is their home on the Halifax plantation, known as Empty by the slaves who work it. It’s the one place they can go to be alone together, away from prying eyes. It becomes a place of refuge and a place of radiance where their love can flourish, blurring the horrors of the vicious world around them. The others know that there are many ways to shelter one’s self from most evil regimes, and keeping the community’s tender secrets is one of them.
But their fellow slave Amos has begun to curry favor by preaching the master’s gospel on the plantation. In his sermons, he begins to direct suspicion towards the two men; could their flickering glances and unspoken words be, after all, sinful? Could their love threaten the plantation’s tense harmony?
Fragile Monsters by Catherine Menon - 7th January 2021
A spell bounding debut novel set between WW2 and contemporary Malaysia.
In her stunning debut novel, Catherine Menon traces one family’s story from 1920 to the present, unraveling a thrilling tale of love betrayal, and redemption against the backdrop of natural disasters and fallen empires. Written in vivid technicolor, with an electric daughter-grandmother relationship at its heart. Fragile Monsters expires what happens when secrets fester through the generations
A River Called Time by Courttia Newland - 7th December 2021
The Ark was built to save the lives of the many, but rapidly became a refuge for the elite, the entrance closed without warning. Years after the Ark was cut off from the world, a chance of survival within it is guaranteed only to a select few who can prove their worth. Among them is Markriss Denny, whose path to future excellence is married only by a secret: without warning, his spirit leaves his body allowing him to see and experience a world far beyond his physical limitations. Once outside the Ark, Denny learns of another with the same power, whose existence could spell catastrophe for humanity. He is forced into a desperate race to understand his abilities, and in doing so he uncovers the truth about the Ark, himself, and the people he thought he once knew.
Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden - 28th January 2021
Mrs Death has had enough. She is exhausted from spending eternity doing her job and now she seeks someone to unburden her conscience too. Wolf Willeford, a troubled young writer, is well aquainted with death, but until now hadnt met Death in person - a black, working class woman whose shape- shifts and does her work unseen.
Enthralled by her stories , Wolf becomes Mrs Death scribe, and begins to write her memoirs. Using their desk as a vessel and conduit, Wolf travels across time and place with Mrs Death to witness deaths of past and present and discuss what the future holds for humanity. As the two reflect on the losses they have experienced - or, in the case of Mrs Death, facilitated - their friendhsip grows into a surprising affirmation of hope, resilience and love. All te while, despite her world-weariness, Death musr continue to hold humans’ fates in her hands, appearing in our lives when we least expect her…
Memorial by Bryan Washington - 7th January 2021
Benson and Mike are two young guys who live together in Houston. Mike is a Japanese American chef at a Mexican restaurant and Benson’s a Black day care teacher, and they’ve been together for a few years—good years—but now they’re not sure why they’re still a couple. There’s the sex, sure, and the meals Mike cooks for Benson, and, well, they love each other.
But when Mike finds out his estranged father is dying in Osaka just as his acerbic Japanese mother, Mitsuko, arrives in Texas for a visit, Mike picks up and flies across the world to say goodbye. In Japan he undergoes an extraordinary transformation, discovering the truth about his family and his past. Back home, Mitsuko and Benson are stuck living together as unconventional roommates, an absurd domestic situation that ends up meaning more to each of them than they ever could have predicted. Without Mike’s immediate pull, Benson begins to push outwards, realizing he might just know what he wants out of life and have the goods to get it.
Both men will change in ways that will either make them stronger together, or fracture everything they’ve ever known. And just maybe they’ll all be okay in the end.
Any of the above catch your eye? Shop our Jan 2021 stack here
