Black Candle Women - by Diane Marie Brown

A Today Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick

Book Synopsis A warm and wry family drama with a magical twist about four generations of Black women living under one roof and the family curse that stems back to a Voodoo shop in 1950s New Orleans

"Propulsive and poignant, Black Candle Women concocts an intoxicating potion of warmth, wisdom, and wonder." --Ava DuVernay

Generations of Montrose women--Augusta, Victoria, Willow--have lived together in their quaint two-story bungalow in California for years. They keep to themselves, never venture far from home, and their collection of tinctures and spells is an unspoken bond between them.

But when seventeen-year-old Nickie Montrose brings home a boy for the first time, their quiet lives are thrown into disarray. For the other women have been withholding a secret from Nickie that will end her relationship before it's even begun: the decades-old family curse that any person they fall in love with dies.

Their surprise guest forces each woman to reckon with her own past choices and mistakes. And as new truths about the curse emerge, the family is set on a collision course dating back to a Voodoo shop in 1950s New Orleans's French Quarter--where a hidden story in a mysterious book may just hold the answers they seek in life and in love...

"Richly imagined and elegantly told, with plenty of satisfying secrets, heartaches, and twists."
--Sadeqa Johnson, international bestselling author of Yellow Wife and The House of Eve
Review Quotes
"Propulsive and poignant, Black Candle Women concocts an intoxicating potion of warmth, wisdom, and wonder. I was completely and gladly under Ms. Brown's spell."
--Ava DuVernay "Richly imagined and elegantly told, with plenty of satisfying secrets, heartaches, and twists. Black Candle Women is a promising debut."
--Sadeqa Johnson, international bestselling author of Yellow Wife and The House of Eve "A spellbinding romp. This book will have you asking yourself, who amongst us isn't cursed? More importantly, how far would you go for a chance at love?"
--Carolyn Huynh, author of GMA Book Club Pick The Fortunes of Jaded Women "Written with warmth and an eye for detail, Diane Marie Brown's Black Candle Women explores the bonds of family and the magical power of belief to transform our lives."
--Shaunna J. Edwards and Alyson Richman, authors of The Thread Collectors "Black Candle Women is a bold and tender story about three generations of women each attempting to find their way amidst the gifts and curses they've inherited. This novel is a wondrous celebration of womanhood."
--Cleyvis Natera, author of Neruda on the Park "Black Candle Women is a compassionate novel about motherhood, sisterhood, independence, and the reflection and forgiveness required to break generational curses. Diane Marie Brown's prose, as well as her fascinating main characters, will win you over immediately."
--De'Shawn Charles Winslow, winner of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and author of Decent People "A big-hearted debut, with complex, flawed, and compelling characters I was rooting for every step of the way."
--E.M. Tran, author of Daughters of the New Year "Brown deftly portrays an insular family of women in all of its complicated glory...The spiritual angle gives this powerful family drama a magical twist that will delight readers."
--Booklist (starred review) "For fans of intergenerational family dramas, this magical twist on the genre will prove refreshing." --Publishers Weekly