Bernice L. McFadden

Three years have passed since four friends - Geneva, Chevy, Crystal, and Noah - had a steamy summer of secrets and sleeping around. As another summer is fast approaching, they''ve sworn off any extra curricular activities, but as the temperature rises in the city, the friends find themselves in hot water again. Geneva is busy taking care of her daughter and trying not to get too involved with her son''s young business manager. Chevy gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to assist a diva who might want more than what''s in the employment contract. Crystal has promised to save herself for Mr. Right (instead of jumping into bed with another Mr. Right Now), but her commitment is tested when an old acquaintance re-enters her life. And while Noah is getting very cosy with his new neighbours in London, he''s still everyone''s favourite (and only) confidante who can''t stop himself from meddling in other people''s business. But secrets don''t stay secrets for long among these friends, and with sexual tensions high on both side of the pond, everyone is sure to catch the fever...

You never know what''s going on behind someone''s groove. New York City, April 2002: Geneva, Crystal, Noah and Chevy, a close friend group, are all mid-thirty, flirty - and ready to embrace the heat of the summer. But behind closed doors, each of them has struggles of their own: Geneva keeps accidentally falling for the charms of her good-for-nothing ex-husband; Crystal is a high-flying executive with a picture-perfect life and a boyfriend who might just be too good to be true; Noah is attempting to keep the spark alive between him and his European boyfriend but the flames of temptation keep catching fire in the most unexpected of places; and then there''s Chevy who couldn''t care less about love and only wants a life of champagne dinners and designer bags, no matter the cost. But as the city heats up and tensions keep bubbling under the surface, Chevy gets entangled with a hot and mysterious stranger. The group must come together to save their friend before it''s too late - and before secrets break their forever friendship.

''Riveting... one of America’s most creative and necessary writers'' SAPPHIREA memoir about four generations of women whose lives illuminate a century of American history, by the author of Richard and Judy Book Club pick SugarOn her second birthday in 1967, Bernice McFadden died. She was in a car crash on the motorway turnoff to Detroit. For a few minutes, she was clinically dead. From the moment of her resuscitation, we follow a remarkable life, all the way up to the publication of her first novel, Sugar.In 80s Brooklyn, growing up in terror of her alcoholic father, young Bernice loses herself in books. But it’s not until she reads Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, stories about ‘messy, beautiful, joyful Black people’ so reminiscent of her loved ones, that she sees herself within their pages.Bernice’s family story begins in Sandersville, Georgia, with freedwoman Louisa Vicey Wilson in 1870. Her descendants survived Reconstruction, Jim Crow, joined the ‘great migration’, cried when Dr King was assassinated during The Civil Rights Movement. Wisdom, secrets, and fierce love are passed down through generations of women like Lou’s handmade quilt.Tracing her roots gives Bernice the strength to write her own story. A memoir of many threads, Firstborn Girls is an extraordinarily moving account of a life shaped both by family history and a drive to be something more.''McFadden’s ability to tell a story makes this one of the most engrossing memoirs I have read in a long time… People will talk about these First Born Girls for years to come!'' TARANA BURKE, activist and author of Unbound''Remarkable... Firstborn Girls is an absolute treasure'' DEESHA PHILYAW, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies