Nobody's Magic

Regular price €19.99
Quantity:
In stock with our UK publisher. 14-28 days
Delivery/Collection within 10-20 working days
14 days return policy Shipping & Delivery
A01=Destiny O Birdsong
African
age
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
albinism
American
Author_Destiny O Birdsong
automatic-update
bipoc
black
Category1=Fiction
Category=FA
Category=FBA
Category=FS
Category=FXB
childhood
coming
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
eq_bestseller
eq_fiction
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_modern-contemporary
eq_nobargain
family
friends
friendship
Language_English
literary
of
PA=Available
Price_€10 to €20
PS=Active
softlaunch
southern
woc
women

Product details

  • ISBN 9781538721407
  • Weight: 310g
  • Dimensions: 132 x 202mm
  • Publication Date: 12 Jan 2023
  • Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Paperback
  • Language: English
Secure checkout Fast Shipping Easy returns

"The magic here is not the supernatural kind, but rather an attention to the grace of the ordinary. It is the magic of watching these women come into their power."-New York Times

"There's romance and a familial drama and examinations of identity, and though there's nothing quite supernatural, it creates a magic entirely its own." - Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here


In this glittering triptych novel, Suzette, Maple and Agnes, three Black women with albinism, call Shreveport, Louisiana home. At the bustling crossroads of the American South and Southwest, these three women find themselves at the crossroads of their own lives.

Suzette, a pampered twenty-year-old, has been sheltered from the outside world since a dangerous childhood encounter. Now, a budding romance with a sweet mechanic allows Suzette to seek independence, which unleashes dark reactions in those closest to her. In discovering her autonomy, Suzette is forced to decide what she is willing to sacrifice in order to make her own way in the world.

Maple is reeling from the unsolved murder of her free-spirited mother. She flees the media circus and her judgmental grandmother by shutting herself off from the world in a spare room of the motel where she works. One night, at a party, Maple connects with Chad, someone who may understand her pain more than she realizes, and she discovers that the key to her mother's death may be within her reach.

Agnes is far from home, working yet another mind-numbing job. She attracts the interest of a lonely security guard and army veteran who's looking for a traditional life for himself and his young son. He's convinced that she wields a certain "magic," but Agnes soon unleashes a power within herself that will shock them both and send her on a trip to confront not only her family and her past, but also herself.

This novel, told in three parts, is a searing meditation on grief, female strength, and self-discovery set against a backdrop of complicated social and racial histories. Nobody's Magic is a testament to the power of family-the ones you're born in and the ones you choose. And in these three narratives, among the yearning and loss, each of these women may find a seed of hope for the future.

Destiny O. Birdsong’s writing has appeared in The Paris Review, African American Review, and Catapult, among other publications. She has received the Academy of American Poets Prize and the Richard G. Peterson Poetry Prize. Her critically-acclaimed debut collection of poems, Negotiations, was longlisted for the 2021 PEN/Voelcker Award and published by Tin House Books.

More from this author