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Whether you’re in the mood for a moving narrative or a gripping read, these two novels by Westchester-based women authors will fire up your reading list.
Alpha Bette
By Jennifer Manocherian
Greenleaf Book Group (2023)
308 pages (pbk, Kindle, audiobook)
Find it on: Amazon or Barnes & Noble
The debut novel by Purchase-based author Jennifer Manocherian depicts a bustling New York City neighborhood in which a 95-year-old widow named Bette gathers friends and acquaintances from her community for a very special dinner party with a surprise ending. Involving a witty parrot and a psychic medium, this novel focuses on the fraught lives of the many characters living within Bette’s community and the way they all manage to come together. A co-writer and producer on the films Family Blues and Boundary Waters, Manocherian throws much of her life experiences into the novel, from her work as a divorce lawyer to being a Broadway producer and musical writer.
Slippin’ Into Darkness
By Kiley Blackman
Kiley Blackman (1992)
246 pages (pbk, Kindle)
Find it on: Amazon
Greenburgh-based novelist Kiley Blackman imagines a fraught, futuristic America in which people of color are forced to live in their own territorial states, separate from white people. This New Black Nation consists of what were once North Dakota, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. What ensues is a surprisingly sensitive portrait of race relations and societal tensions in contemporary America as well as the folly of racial segregation, as families and brave lovers defy the government mandate to remain apart. Originally published in 1992 by the Black-owned Kayode Press but re-released by the author amid the recent news of states exploring secession, the topics of this book remain as relevant today as ever.
