Through close readings of slave narratives, scrapbooks, travel illustration, documentary film and photography, as well as collage, craft, and sculpture, Jasmine Nichole Cobb explores Black hair as a visual material through which to reimagine the sensual experience of Blackness.

From Frederick Douglass to Angela Davis, “natural hair” has been associated with the Black freedom struggle. In New Growth Jasmine Nichole Cobb traces the history of Afro-textured coiffure, exploring it as a visual material through which to reimagine the sensual experience of Blackness. Through close readings of slave narratives, scrapbooks, travel illustration, documentary film and photography, as well as collage, craft, and sculpture, from the nineteenth century to the present, Cobb shows how the racial distinctions ascribed to people of African descent become simultaneously visible and tactile. Whether examining Soul Train’s and Ebony’s promotion of the Afro hairstyle alongside cosmetics or how artists such as Alison Saar and Lorna Simpson underscore the construction of Blackness through the representation of hair, Cobb foregrounds the inseparability of Black hair’s look and feel. Demonstrating that Blackness is palpable through appearance and feeling, Cobb reveals the various ways that people of African descent forge new relationships to the body, public space, and visual culture through the embrace of Black hair.

A biting 1931 science fiction satire of American racism, and one of the first works of Afrofuturism.

It's New Years Day in 1933 in New York City and Max Disher, a young black man, has just heard the news: a mysterious doctor has discovered a strange process that can turn black skin white—a new way to "solve the American race problem." Max, who is tired of being rejected and abused because of his dark skin, leaps at the opportunity. After receiving the "Black-No-More" procedure, he becomes Matthew Fisher, a white man who is able to attain everything he has ever wanted: money, power, and a beautiful wife. But it soon becomes apparent that America, whiter than ever, is becoming more and more dangerous . . .

An extraordinary, cutting satire, Black No More is an utterly unique work of science fiction, and one of the first works of Black speculative fiction.

The Book of Harlan opens with the courtship of Harlan's parents and his 1917 birth in Macon, Georgia. After his prominent minister grandfather dies, Harlan and his parents move to Harlem, where he eventually becomes a professional musician. 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" by black American musicians--Harlan jumps at the opportunity, convincing Lizard to join him.

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. 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.

The bestselling, definitive study of African Americans throughout American history, now with a new introduction by noted scholar V. P. Franklin.

In The Negro in the Making of America, eminent historian Benjamin Quarles provides one of the most comprehensive and readable accounts ever gathered in one volume of the role that African Americans have played in shaping the destiny of America. Starting with the arrival of the slave ships in the early 1600s and moving through the Colonial period, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and into the last half of the twentieth century, Quarles chronicles the sweep of events that have brought blacks and their struggle for social and economic equality to the forefront of American life.

Through compelling portraits of central political, historical, and artistic figures such as Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass, Duke Ellington, Malcolm X, and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Quarles illuminates the African American contributions that have enriched the cultural heritage of America. This classic history also covers black participation in politics, the rise of a black business class, and the forms of discrimination experienced by blacks in housing, employment, and the media.

Quarles's groundbreaking work not only surveys the role of black Americans as they engaged in the dual, simultaneous processes of assimilating into and transforming the culture of their country, but also, in a portrait of the white response to blacks, holds a mirror up to the deeper moral complexion of our nation's history. The restoration of this history holds a redemptive quality—one that can be used, in the author's words, as a "vehicle for present enlightenment, guidance, and enrichment."

Hardcover

Presenting the essential writings of black lesbian poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider celebrates an influential voice in twentieth-century literature, with a foreword by Mahogany L. Browne.

In this charged collection of fifteen essays and speeches, Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class, and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change. Her prose is incisive, unflinching, and lyrical, reflecting struggle but ultimately offering messages of hope.

Jean Toomer’s Cane is one of the most significant works to come out of the Harlem Renaissance, and is considered to be a masterpiece in American modernist literature because of its distinct structure and style.

First published in 1923 and told through a series of vignettes, Cane uses poetry, prose, and play-like dialogue to create a window into the varied lives of African Americans living in the rural South and urban North during a time when Jim Crow laws pervaded and racism reigned. While critically acclaimed and known today as a pioneering text of the Harlem Renaissance, the book did not gain as much popularity as other works written during the period. Fellow Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes believed Cane’s lack of a wider readership was because it didn’t reinforce the stereotypes often associated with African Americans during the time, but portrayed them in an accurate and entirely human way, breaking the mold and laying the groundwork for how African Americans are depicted in literature.

For the first time in Penguin Classics, this edition of Cane features a new introduction, suggestions for further reading, and notes by scholar George Hutchinson, and National Book Award Foundation 5 Under 35 novelist Zinzi Clemmons contributes a foreword.

“[R]ichly evocative…a brilliant and beautiful volume.” ―Booklist, starred review
“A lavish, eye-catching rethinking of ages-old stories.” ―Kirkus Reviews, starred review

From the acclaimed fine artist Harmonia Rosales, a sweeping retelling of African myth illustrated throughout with Rosales’s spectacular paintings.

In Chronicles of Ori, her debut book, Harmonia Rosales retells the African myths she has long treasured, crafting an enthralling epic that spans the birth of the universe to the modern world of colonialism and resistance. She writes of the powerful, temperamental deities called the Orishas; of the founding of Yorubaland by the shrewd leader Oduduwa; of the young heroine Eve, born in a time of violence and despair, who would help her people regain their past splendor; and of shimmering serpents and monstrous shadows who stalk the lands of mortals. At the center of these linked tales is the bond, sometimes fraying, between the Orishas and the humans who worship them. It was the Orishas who made humans, and who gave them their most precious resource: their Oris, or destinies. Vividly brought to life by Rosales’s artwork, Chronicles of Ori will enlighten and delight readers for years to come.

26 illustrations

A magnificent new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of An American Marriage—Tayari Jones has written an unforgettable novel that sparkles with wit and intelligence and deep feeling about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge after many years apart in the face of a devastating tragedy.

Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother’s death, Vernice leaves Honeysuckle at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and discovers a world of affluence, manners, aspiration, and inequality. Annie, abandoned by her mother as a child and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, culminating in a battle for her life.

A novel about mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South, Kin is an exuberant, emotionally rich, unforgettable work from one of the brightest and most irresistible voices in contemporary fiction.

IACP AWARD FINALIST • An insightful exploration into the bounty of both familiar and new Middle Eastern ingredients plus 90 modern and traditional dishes in which to use them, from the author of Mastering Spice and The Spice Companion
 
“Get ready to go on a transformative cultural journey that begins in your kitchen.”—Carla Hall, bestselling author of Carla Hall’s Soul Food

A FOOD NETWORK AND WIRED BEST COOKBOOK OF THE YEAR

Growing up on a kibbutz in northern Israel, spice master Lior Lev Sercarz has long had an affinity for local ingredients and produce. After becoming a chef and then devoting his creativity and career to sourcing and blending spices, he recognized the intensive labor, skill, and craftsmanship that goes into the development of Middle Eastern pantry staples, from olives to silan (date molasses), and tahini to sujuk (a fermented and dried sausage).
 
In this cookbook and culinary resource, he homes in on the everyday ingredients used throughout this vast region, including Turkey, Tunisia, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Armenia, Jordan, and more, as he offers an homage to the pantry staples that define Middle Eastern cuisine. Lior offers an in-depth look at the production, history, cultural resonance, and storage of each pantry item, then shares an array of mouthwatering recipes crafted for home kitchens. Dishes range from a hearty Verjus and Lamb Stew to snacky Kibbeh with Pine Nuts, Roasted Vegetables with Egyptian Dukkah, tangy Iraqi amba mango sauce, a sweet-syrupy-cheesy kunafe, and a creamy Turkish rice pudding.
 
This book is for home cooks who crave not only recipes but also origin stories that lend cultural relevance and insight into one of the world’s most ancient and beloved cuisines.

In this thrilling mystery from "master of craft and narrative" Walter Mosley (National Book Foundation), Detective Easy Rawlins has settled into the happy rhythm of his new life when a dark siren from his past returns and threatens to destroy the peace he's fought for.

The name Easy Rawlins stirs excitement in the hearts of readers and fear in the hearts of his foes. His success has bought him a thriving detective agency, with its first female detective; a remote home, shared with children and pets and lovers, high atop the hills overlooking gritty Los Angeles; and more trouble, more problems, and more threat to those whom he loves. In other words, he’s still beset on all sides.
 
A number of below-the-law powerbrokers plead with Easy to locate a mysterious, dangerous woman—Lutisha James, though she’s gone by another name that Easy will immediately recognize. 1970s Los Angeles is a transient city of delicate, violent balances, and Lutisha has disturbed that. She also has a secret that will upend Easy’s own life, painfully closer to home.

The Curlfriends are back and hitting the dance floor in Sharee Miller’s NAACP image award-nominated graphic novel series.

Nola Washington has never met a problem she can’t solve. She’s a fashionista and an honor roll student, and she knows her way around a comb. When she’s not helping her mom at their family’s hair salon, Nola’s hanging out with her besties, the Curlfriends! This time, Ella has signed them up for the school talent show, and who better to lead them in a dance routine than Nola, with her amazing moves? All she needs is a stylish new outfit to perform in, but when one of the salon’s hair dryers breaks down, Nola finds out her mom is having money trouble. If they can’t pay the bills, will the salon go out of business?

Not on Nola’s watch! She’ll do anything to help, but her mom keeps shutting her out. It’s hard to focus on dance practice with her girls, let alone school, when life at home is nowhere near perfect anymore. This doesn’t feel like something Nola can fix on her own, but with the Curlfriends by her side, there’s no problem they can’t solve together!

In the Curlfriends series, follow four inseparable Black girls who show what it means to lean on one another when times are tough:

Curlfriends: New in Town
Curlfriends: Back in Business

This gorgeous DELUXE LIMITED EDITION is available while supplies last―featuring stenciled sprayed edges, as well as exclusive special design features. This must-have special edition is only available on a limited first print run while supplies last in the US and Canada only.

The breathtaking sequel to the #1 New York Times bestseller, Immortal Dark!

Like all ruinous things, he came from the abyss.
 
Kidan Adane has finally embraced her darkness. She’s killed without remorse, lied, and broken Uxlay University’s most sacred law by inviting elusive rogue vampires, the Nefrasi, into Uxlay.
 
Trapped with a violently unstable vampire, and reeling from her sister’s return, Kidan wields her anger like a weapon. She vows to master her house and protect the sacred artifact hidden inside, even if it means forging an alliance with the depraved leader of the Nefrasi, Samson Sagad--and betraying Susenyos.
 
A dangerous new philosophical text seems to hold the answers and promises the very thing Kidan has lost: control. Even as the dark pages consume her, Kidan knows no soul at Uxlay is trustworthy—least of all Susenyos. For Kidan and Susenyos, the lines of loathing and attraction may blur, but the quest for power rules them both. And neither is willing to surrender.
 
As devastating secrets resurface from the past, Kidan and her sister, June, must finally confront each other and take their rightful places in the looming war.

A "provocative, insightful, and urgent" (Peniel E. Joseph) new examination of Malcolm X that shows how the iconic figure was always dedicated to a global movement for Black liberation  

Malcolm X is one of the most iconic figures of the twentieth century. Across countless films, documentaries, and books, we have come to know him as a violent and tragic figure, who, when considered next to Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, was ultimately and perhaps dangerously misguided. But in the wake of continued police brutality and the rise of white supremacy, it’s time to revisit Malcolm X and ask: What do we really know about what he believed, and what can we do with that political philosophy today? 
 
In Nobody Can Give You Freedom, Kehinde Andrews draws on the speeches and writings of Malcolm X to upend the conventional understanding of Malcolm—from his alleged misogyny to his putative proclivity for violence. Instead, Andrews argues that Malcolm X embraced equality across genders and foresaw a more inclusive approach to Black liberation that relied on grassroots efforts and community building.  
 
Far from a doomed ideologue, Malcolm X was in fact one of the most important, and misunderstood, intellectuals of the twentieth century, whose lessons on how to fight white supremacy are more important than ever.

Cozy Bookshops―your ultimate escape into a world of bookish bliss and mindful relaxation in 46 adorable scenes, from the coziest book nooks.

Wander labyrinthine bookshelves, sink into soft armchairs by roaring fireplaces, and lose yourself in snug, atmospheric corners. Escape, relax, and unwind with this colouring book for all skills levels and bring your own personality. The possibilities are endless!

Perfect for…

* Book lovers and cozy-core enthusiasts
* Adults and teens seeking mindful relaxation
* The ultimate creative gift

With single-sided pages, and bespoke illustrations start your cozy escape today and bring your imagination to life with Cozy Bookshops.

Featuring real-life bookshops:

* Daunt Books (London)
* Topping & Company (Edinburgh)
* Mr B's Emporium (Bath)
* P&G Wells (Winchester)
* Maldon Books (Essex)
* Shrew Books (Cornwall)
* Kett's Books (Norfolk)
* FOLDE (Dorset)
* Much Ado Books (East Sussex)
* John Sandoe Books (London)

Selah Bailey, an anxious, risk-averse, homebody determined to finally become the main character in her own story, created a "F*ck It List" filled with goals and experiences to force her out of her comfort zone and introduce her to a life outside of her front door.

Realizing she'll need a partner to help complete her more adventurous goals by the deadline, she goes on a few dates in hopes of breaking her dry spell with no luck.

After what may be the worst date ever, she meets Greyson in the elevator of her building.

She soon finds herself running out of time to complete the list and seeks an arrangement with anyone tolerable-though a certain neighbor comes to mind.

Greyson is everything she wasn't prepared for and could be the perfect hero for her story. Except falling in love is against the rules and she should probably leave the house to find it.

Greyson Park is a business oriented extrovert, who's fully content with the life he's built for himself amid his divorce. For the past 7 years, he's prioritized making the best out of everyday and keeping things casual in his love life.

As the creator of a wildly successful dating app, he's become quite the modern day matchmaker. While he loves seeing others in love, he doesn't forgive himself for the past and believes romance isn't in the cards for a second time.

After what may be the most awkward night ever, he meets Selah in the elevator of his building.

He soon finds himself needing a believable date for his ex's wedding to silence the noise about him not moving on and works out an arrangement with his neighbor.

Selah is everything he didn't know he needed and could be the one who introduces him to a life outside of work. Except falling in love is against the rules, and he should probably use his app to find it.

"There's a Unicorn in My Backyard" is a celebration of creativity and the belief that anything is possible. Dive into a story where a curious mind and a daring heart fuel incredible invention—and magical discoveries. Follow Carolina Blue, the clever and determined protagonist, as she transforms everyday objects into extraordinary creations in her quest to capture the unicorn that dances just beyond reach.

This is a tale of wild imagination, bold innovation, and design thinking in action. Vibrant illustrations and playful storytelling combine to inspire kids to dream big, think critically, and turn their ideas into reality. "There's a Unicorn in My Backyard" is not just a book—it’s an invitation to reimagine the world around us, one creative solution at a time.

Build. Dream. Discover. Let the magic unfold!

Adventure Awaits…

This powerful graphic novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s groundbreaking dystopian novel stands beside the acclaimed previous graphic novel adaptations, Kindred, a #1 New York Times bestseller, and Parable of the Sower, winner of the Hugo Award

Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents: A Graphic Novel Adaptation is the continuation of the travails of Lauren Olamina. Brought to life by Damian Duffy and John Jennings, the creative team behind the #1 New York Times bestseller Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, Parable of the Talents is told in the voice of Lauren Olamina’s daughter, Asha Vere—from whom she has been separated for most of the girl’s life—interspersed with sections in the form of Lauren’s own journals.

Against a background of a war-torn continent under the control of a Christian fundamentalist fascist state, Asha searches for answers about her own past while struggling to reconcile with her mother’s legacy—caught between her duty to her chosen family and her calling to lead humankind into a better future among the stars.

Octavia E. Butler's bestselling literary science-fiction masterpieces are essential works in feminist, Afrofuturist, and fantasy genres, and this compelling graphic novel adaptation of Parable of the Talents is a major event.

The black experience in America--starting from its origins in western Africa up to 1961--is examined in this seminal study from a prominent African American figure. The entire historical timeline of African Americans is addressed, from the Colonial period through the civil rights upheavals of the late 1950s to 1961, the time of publication. "Before the Mayflower" grew out of a series of articles Bennett published in Ebony magazine regarding "the trials and triumphs of a group of Americans whose roots in the American soil are deeper than the roots of the Puritans who arrived on the celebrated Mayflower a year after a 'Dutch man of war' deposited twenty Negroes at Jamestown." Bennett's history is infused with a desire to set the record straight about black contributions to the Americas and about the powerful Africans of antiquity. While not a fresh history, it provides a solid synthesis of current historical research and a lively writing style that makes it accessible and engaging reading.

After discussing the contributions of Africans to the ancient world, "Before the Mayflower" tells the history of "the other Americans," how they came to America, and what happened to them when they got here. The book is comprehensive and detailed, providing little-known and often overlooked facts about the lives of black folks through slavery, Reconstruction, America's wars, the Great Depression, and the civil rights movement. The book includes a useful time line and some fascinating archival images.

It’s Nikki Maxwell’s birthday!! Will it be a blast or a bust? Find out in Nikki’s newest diary, the thirteenth installment in the #1 New York Times blockbuster bestselling Dork Diaries series!

Nikki and her BFFs Chloe and Zoey have been planning a birthday party of epic proportions! There’s just one problem—Nikki’s mom says no way to the budget they need to make it happen. Nikki’s ready to call the whole thing off, but some surprising twists might take that decision out of her hands, and help comes from the person Nikki would least expect. One way or another, this will be a birthday that Nikki will never forget!

A compelling and candid memoir from Allen Iverson, the NBA’s most misunderstood Hall of Famer, detailing his tough childhood in Virginia, his entry into the league as the number one overall pick, and his controversial, culture-changing pro basketball career.

In Misunderstood, Allen Iverson shares in searing clarity and touching candor his meteoric rise from impoverished child in the Virginia projects to high school champion to Georgetown University protégé of legendary coach John Thompson, and finally to NBA All-Star and Reebok’s Vice President of Basketball.

Allen Iverson is a household name—Boomers and Gen Xers watched his decades-long run as a scrappy, tenacious basketball player on the Philadelphia 76ers who redefined the sport’s style (both fashion-wise and playing-wise), while millennials and Gen Zers are perhaps more familiar with his Reebok line’s resurgence in popularity, his callout in Post Malone’s viral hit “White Iverson,” and for being the namesake of Kendall Roy’s son on Succession. Part athletic legend, part fashion icon, part hip-hop muse, Iverson was one of the first celebrities to fuse lifestyle, culture, and sports.

But while everyone may know his name, few have seen behind the curtain on Iverson’s tumultuous life. Misunderstood lifts the veil and brings you into the mind of the pugnacious, ultra-talented misfit whose foremost goal, more than fame or fortune, was always to lift his family and friends out of poverty and violence. In his memoir, Iverson explores how he completely shattered the mold dictating what an NBA star could be in the 1990s and 2000s, all while dealing with legal troubles and personal traumas that only contributed to his sense of individualism and star power. This is the unforgettable story of a trailblazer who not only changed the game of basketball but rewrote the rules of what it means to rise, fall, and rise again while staying unapologetically true to himself.

An expansive volume featuring over two decades of incisive reflections on race, art and pop culture by one of the greatest artists working today

This long-awaited and essential volume collects writings and interviews by Glenn Ligon, whose canonical paintings, neons and installations have been delivering a cutting examination of race, history, sexuality and culture in America since his emergence in the late 1980s. No stranger to text, the artist has routinely utilized writings from James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Pryor, Gertrude Stein and others to construct work that centers Blackness within the historically white backdrop of the art world and culture writ large. Ligon began writing in the early 2000s, engaging deeply with the work of peers such as Julie Mehretu, Chris Ofili and Lorna Simpson, as well as with artists who came before him, among them Philip Guston, David Hammons and Andy Warhol. Interweaving a singular voice and a magical knack for storytelling with an astute view of art history and broader cultural shifts, this collection cements Ligon's status as one of the great chroniclers of our time.
Glenn Ligon was born in the Bronx in 1960. He began as an abstract painter but shifted to text-based works which often incorporate quotes from Black authors. His work can be found in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

I am Rather Childers...

I am one of seven women...

I am one of eight siblings ...

I am the daughter of Richie & Rhea...

And, I am wanted by the federal government...

I traded my career and livelihood for a life of leisure in St. Catana that guarantees my freedom and eliminates the chances of extradition. Not only for me but for my family as well. Two years ago, our superior's freedom was on the line. To secure his rightful place amongst his siblings, a sacrifice had to be made.

I was the sacrifice.

And, in ninety days, I am set to marry a Valentine who hunts, kills, and deals for a living. His head is as hot as it is large. He's a troublemaker. He's a liability to his family and mine. My job? Turn him into an asset before the government turns him into bait.

While that job might be simple, due to my extensive background in mental and emotional health, getting down the aisle isn't. Because he's not the only man's mind I'm willing to infiltrate. Past affiliations lead me down a dark, sinister path that emphasizes my betrayal, dishonesty, and disobedience. In the end, I'm left scrambling to make good on the promises my family made. The only issue is that I could easily sacrifice my body. It was my heart that troubled me.

I am a therapist.

I am The Therapist.

And, I am, in fact, a traitor.

A TIME 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time
A Time Magazine Best Fantasy Book of 2018

L. Penelope's Song of Blood & Stone is a treacherous, thrilling, epic fantasy about an outcast drawn into a war between two powerful rulers.

The kingdoms of Elsira and Lagrimar have been separated for centuries by the Mantle, a magical veil that has enforced a tremulous peace between the two lands. But now, the Mantle is cracking and the True Father, ruler of Lagrimar and the most powerful Earthsinger in the world, finally sees a way into Elsira to seize power.

All Jasminda ever wanted was to live quietly on her farm, away from the prying eyes of those in the nearby town. Branded an outcast by the color of her skin and her gift of Earthsong, she’s been shunned all her life and has learned to steer clear from the townsfolk…until a group of Lagrimari soldiers wander into her valley with an Elsiran spy, believing they are still in Lagrimar.

Through Jack, the spy, Jasminda learns that the Mantle is weakening, allowing people to slip through without notice. And even more troubling: Lagrimar is mobilizing, and if no one finds a way to restore the Mantle, it might be too late for Elsira. Their only hope lies in uncovering the secrets of the Queen Who Sleeps and Jasminda’s Earthsong is the key to unravel them.

Thrust into a hostile society and a world she doesn’t know, Jasminda and Jack race to unveil an ancient mystery that might offer salvation.

An African tightrope walker who can’t die gets embroiled in a secret society’s deadly gladiatorial tournament in this “bloodily spectacular” (Chloe Gong, New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights) historical fantasy set in an alternate 1880s London, perfect for fans of The Last Magician and The Gilded Wolves.

As an African tightrope dancer in Victorian London, Iris is used to being strange. She is certainly an unusual sight for leering British audiences always eager for the spectacle of colonial curiosity. But Iris also has a secret that even “strange” doesn’t capture…

She cannot die.

Haunted by her unnatural power and with no memories of her past, Iris is obsessed with discovering who she is. But that mission gets more complicated when she meets the dark and alluring Adam Temple, a member of a mysterious order called the Enlightenment Committee. Adam seems to know much more about her than he lets on, and he shares with her a terrifying revelation: the world is ending, and the Committee will decide who lives…and who doesn’t.

To help them choose a leader for the upcoming apocalypse, the Committee is holding the Tournament of Freaks, a macabre competition made up of vicious fighters with fantastical abilities. Adam wants Iris to be his champion, and in return he promises her the one thing she wants most: the truth about who she really is.

If Iris wants to learn about her shadowy past, she has no choice but to fight. But the further she gets in the grisly tournament, the more she begins to remember—and the more she wonders if the truth is something best left forgotten.

An Instant New York Times Bestseller!
A BuzzFeed Best Young Adult Book of 2020

Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Serpent & Dove, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.

This paperback edition of These Violent Delights contains never-before-seen letters from Roma to Juliette!

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

This paperback edition of These Violent Delights contains never-before-seen content!