Book of Harlan
"Simply miraculous... As her saga becomes ever more spellbinding, so does the reader's astonishment at the magic she creates. This is a story about the triumph of the human spirit over bigotry, intolerance and cruelty, and at the center of The Book of Harlan is the restorative force that is music." - Washington Post
Harlan and his best friend are invited to perform at a popular cabaret in the Parisian enclave of Montmartre, but after the City of Light falls under Nazi occupation, they are thrown into Buchenwald-the notorious concentration camp in Weimar, Germany-irreparably changing the course of Harlan's life.
Bernice L. McFadden is an African-American award-winning author of ten critically acclaimed novels including Praise Song for the Butterflies, The Book of Harlan, Sugar, The Warmest December, Gathering of Waters (a New York Times Editors' Choice and one of the 100 Notable Books of 2012), and Glorious.
Her latest novel, Praise Song for the Butterflies, was longlisted for the prestigious Women's Prize for Fiction 2019. The Book of Harlan (2016) won the American National Book Award and an NAACP Image award, and has been optioned for a movie deal by MarkTonderai of Shona Films.
In the UK, McFadden has featured at Cheltenham Literary Festival, Hillingdon Literary Festival and has given talks and signings at bookshops including Waterstones. She has featured in British media including BBC R4 Front Row, RTE Radio, The Observer, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio
Scotland and on multiple blogs.