10th Anniversary Edition
"Bernice L. McFadden's first novel begins with the brief, poetic description of a crime so startling that the reader is helplessly drawn in, as if a bright red door stood ajar on a bleak and forbidding house. Pearl Taylor's daughter, Jude, has been found murdered and mutilated near a field at the edge of town. "The murder had white man written all over it," writes McFadden. "But no one would say it above a whisper. It was 1940. It was Bigelow, Arkansas. It was a black child. Need any more be said?" In the years that follow, Pearl catches sight of Jude in so many strangers that when Sugar Lacey comes to town and sets up her unwholesome "business" in the house next door, she doesn't know whether to believe what she sees in Sugar's face: a striking similarity to Jude, dead 15 years. In her sedate but supple prose--rising at times to a light, unforced lyricism in the description of landscape or character--the author perfectly renders the closed and protective society of a small Southern town, the superstitions, gossip, and prying."

Praise for the novels of Bernice L. McFadden:

"Searing and expertly imagined." - Toni Morrison

"Vivid." - The New York Times

"Eloquent..." (McFadden) is a talent worth watching." - The Washington Post

"Sweeping and intense" - Susan Straight author of A Million Nightengales

"This very American story is fascinating; it is also heart-breaking,
thought-provoking, and beautifully written." --Binnie Kirshenbaum, author of The Scenic Route


In order to commemorate the 10th Anniversary I'm asking that you purchase a copy of SUGAR for yourself, a friend or family member. And yes, KINDLE purchases count.

Hi Brea! I was wondering if you ever get to NY -- I am working with Girls Write Now, She Writes philanthropic partner and a really amazing organization, to bring in speakers for events GWN will be hosting this fall. I feel like you would knock the socks off these girls and it would also be great to help them think about alternative media that girls are not often welcomed into. Let me know if you are interested at all -- kamy@shewrites.com.