The real Pirates of the Caribbean were Black, and women! From Vanessa Riley, acclaimed author of Queen of Exiles, comes a sweeping, immersive saga based on the life of the legendary seventeenth-century pirate Jacquotte Delehaye.

The Caribbean Sea, 1675. Jacquotte Delahaye is the mixed-race daughter of a wealthy tavern owner on the island of Tortuga. Instead of marriage, Jacquotte dreams of joining the seafarers and smugglers whose tall-masted ships cluster in the turquoise waters around Tortuga. She falls in love with a pirate, but when he returns to the sea, Jacquotte decides to make her own way. In Haiti she becomes Jacques, a dockworker, earning the respect of those around her while hiding her gender.

Jacquotte discovers that secret identities are fairly common in the chaotic world of seafaring, which is full of outsiders and misfits. She forms a deep bond with Bahati, an African-born woman who has escaped slavery and also disguises herself as a man to navigate the world. They join forces with Dirkje De Wulf, a fearless adventurer who also lives as a man at sea. As Jacques, Jacquotte falls in love with Lizzôa d'Erville, a beautiful courtesan who deals in secrets and sex. While others see their work clothes as a disguise, Lizzôa's true self is as a woman.

For the next twenty years, Jacquotte raids the Caribbean, making enemies and amassing a fortune in stolen gold. When her fellow pirates decide to increase their profits by entering the slave trade, Jacquotte turns away from piracy and the pursuit of riches. Risking her life in one deadly skirmish after another, she instead begins to plot a war of liberation.

People are always surprised that Black people reside in the hills of Appalachia. Those not surprised that we were there, are surprised that we stayed.

Years ago, when O. Henry Prize-winning writer Crystal Wilkinson was baking a jam cake, she felt her late grandmother’s presence. She soon realized that she was not the only cook in her kitchen; there were her ancestors, too, stirring, measuring, and braising alongside her. These are her kitchen ghosts, five generations of Black women who settled in Appalachia and made a life, a legacy, and a cuisine.

An expert cook, Wilkinson shares nearly forty family recipes rooted deep in the past, full of flavor—delicious favorites including Corn Pudding, Chicken and Dumplings, Granny Christine’s Jam Cake, and Praisesong Biscuits, brought to vivid life through stunning photography. Together, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts honors the mothers who came before, the land that provided for generations of her family, and the untold heritage of Black Appalachia.

As the keeper of her family’s stories and treasured dishes, Wilkinson shares her inheritance in Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts. She found their stories in her apron pockets, floating inside the steam of hot mustard greens and tucked into the sweet scent of clove and cinnamon in her kitchen. Part memoir, part cookbook, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts weaves those stories together with recipes, family photos, and a lyrical imagination to present a culinary portrait of a family that has lived and worked the earth of the mountains for over a century.

Nova Scotia, 1796. Cora, an orphan newly arrived from Jamaica, has never felt cold like this. In the depths of winter, everyone in her community huddles together in their homes to keep warm. So when she sees a shadow slipping through the trees, Cora thinks her eyes are deceiving her...until she creeps out into the moonlight and finds the tracks in the snow.

Agnes is in hiding. On the run from her former life, she has learned what it takes to survive alone in the wilderness. But she can afford no mistakes. When she first spies the young woman in the woods, she is afraid. Yet Cora is fearless, and their paths are destined to cross.

Deep among the cedars, Cora and Agnes find a fragile place of safety. But when Agnes’s past closes in, they are confronted with the dangerous price of freedom—and of love....

With evocative prose and immersive storytelling, Fireflies in Winter is a powerful novel about love—love for the wilderness in all its unforgiving beauty, and love between two women who risk everything to be together.

Veycosi, in training as a griot (an historian and musician), hopes to sail off to examine the rare Alamat Book of Light and thus secure a spot for himself on Chynchin’s Colloquium of scholars. However, unexpected events prevent that from happening. Fifteen Ymisen galleons arrive in the harbor to force a trade agreement on Chynchin. Veycosi tries to help, hoping to prove himself with a bold move, but quickly finds himself in way over his head.

Bad turns to worse when malign forces start stirring. Pickens (children) are disappearing and an ancient invading army, long frozen into piche (tar) statues by island witches is stirring to life—led by the fearsome demon known as the Blackheart Man. Veycosi has problems in his polyamorous personal life, too. How much trouble can a poor student take? Or cause all by himself as the line between myth and history blends in this delightfully sly tale by one of greatest novelists.

Chicago, 1935. Othella is an orphaned con artist who needs to escape the city's brutal underworld . . . or else. Vivian Jean is a wealthy wife, student, and anthropologist eager to prove herself professionally and personally. Zinzi is a Jamaican labor union activist determined to bring change to her homeland's plantation system. Thanks to a series of fortunate mishaps and coincidences, all three join Dunham’s voyage to the Maroon village of Accompong in Jamaica’s Cockpit Country—and perhaps discover what they desperately want most . . .

Through skill and curiosity, Othella becomes a valued member of the expedition, even as she struggles to conceal her past. Zinzi's knowledge of the Cockpit allows the expedition to explore uncharted territory, even as a forbidden love and fierce resistance threaten everything she seeks to protect. As Vivian Jean’s observations help Dunham make unprecedented discoveries, she grapples with her second husband's guilt and accusations. Yet, amidst their private battles, nature presents an even greater challenge . . .

When a deadly storm bears down on the island, imperiling the women’s missions—and their lives—they must form an unlikely sisterhood. To survive, they will need each other more than anyone or anything they’ve ever needed.

Across the English-speaking Caribbean, “me belly full” can mean more than just a satisfied stomach, but a heart and soul that’s full too. In Belly Full, food writer of Trinidadian descent Lesley Enston brings us into the overlapping histories of the Caribbean islands through their rich cultures and cuisines.

Eleven staple ingredients—beans, calabaza, cassava, chayote, coconut, cornmeal, okra, plantains, rice, salted cod, and scotch bonnet peppers—hold echoes of familiarity from one island to the next, and their widespread use comes in part from the harrowing impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade and colonialism. As Lesley delves into how history shaped each country and territory’s cuisine, she shows us what we can learn from each island (such as Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, and Cuba) and encourages us to celebrate the delicious differences.

Belly Full provides basic knowledge on choosing, storing, and preparing these ingredients as well as a mix of traditional and creative adaptations to dishes. Recipes are mostly gluten-free and plant-based and include:

• Cornmeal: Pen Mayi from Haiti and Conkies from Barbados
• Okra: Callaloo from Trinidad and Tobago and Fungee from Antigua
• Plantains: Mofongo from Puerto Rico and Tortilla de Plátano Maduro from Cuba
• Salted Cod: Ackee and Saltfish from Jamaica and Accras de Morue from Martinique

Belly Full, with its breadth of stories, recipes, and stunning photography, will leave your stomach and heart more than satisfied.

On an ordinary day in an upscale Atlanta suburb, Maya is making breakfast for her two sons, when her husband drops a letter on the counter and asks a devastating question: Who is Sunny?

As she frantically weighs the impact of the truth on her future, Maya relives the details of her childhood journey to America from Guyana--and the traumatic events that forced her to leave her past behind. Through the eyes of Maya's innocent and scared younger self, we discover the power of hope, empathy, and the possibility of beginning again.

From an unforgettable new voice in Caribbean literature, a sweeping story of two families colliding in 1940s Trinidad--and a chilling mystery that shows how interconnected their lives truly are

Trinidad in the 1940s, nearing the end of American occupation and British colonialism. On a hill overlooking Bell Village sits the Changoor farm, where Dalton and Marlee Changoor live in luxury unrecognizable to those who reside in the farm's shadow. Down below is the Barrack, a ramshackle building of wood and tin, divided into rooms occupied by whole families. Among these families are the Saroops--Hans, Shweta, and their son, Krishna, all three born of the barracks. Theirs are hard lives of backbreaking work, grinding poverty, devotion to faith, and a battle against nature and a social structure designed to keep them where they are.

But when Dalton goes missing and Marlee's safety is compromised, farmhand Hans is lured by the promise of a handsome stipend to move to the farm as a watchman. As the mystery of Dalton's disappearance unfolds, the lives of the wealthy couple and those who live in the barracks below become insidiously entwined, their community changed forever and in shocking ways.

A searing and singular novel of religion, class, family, and historical violence, and rooted in Trinidad's wild pastoral landscape and inspired by oral storytelling traditions, Hungry Ghosts is deeply resonant of its time and place while evoking the roots and ripple effects of generational trauma and linked histories; the lingering resentments, sacrifices, and longings that alter destinies; and the consequences of powerlessness. Lyrically told and rendered with harrowing beauty, Hungry Ghosts is a stunning piece of storytelling and an affecting mystery, from a blazingly talented writer.

Mia spent her early career working under prestigious chefs such as José Andrés, Thomas Keller, and Wolfgang Puck, and later cooked for exclusive clients worldwide as a private chef. In 2020, unexpectedly grounded in New York City, she found herself craving the foods of her native Puerto Rico. Over daily FaceTime calls (that sometimes stretched for hours) with her beloved Abuela Sara in San Juan, Mia collected the time-honored recipes that represent her family's homeland. Now, applying her professional knowledge, she has expertly adapted these dishes for you to re-create in any American home kitchen.

Cocina Puerto Rico covers everything from salads, fritters, and soups to seafood, meat, and rice dishes to sweets, including re-creations of favorites from the island's traditional panaderías (bakeries). Classics like Abuela's Sancocho (Root Veggie Stew with Plantain Dumplings), Serenata de Bacalao (Saltfish Salad), Arroz con Jueyes (Stewed Crab Rice), and Tembleque (Creamy Coconut Pudding) bring the signature flavors of Puerto Rican cooking into your home, while dishes like Tropical Caprese Salad and Caribbean Passion Pie introduce some of Mia's modern tropical riffs.

Featuring photography shot at Abuela's house in San Juan, iconic landmarks throughout Puerto Rico, and a design inspired by the sun-washed alleyways of Old San Juan, this book is a true trip to the Island of Enchantment. Whether you want to explore a new destination, savor a unique cuisine, or immerse yourself in vibrant culture and rich history--Cocina Puerto Rico is your way in. 



 

Quiara Alegría Hudes was the sharp-eyed girl on the stairs while her family danced their defiance in a tight North Philly kitchen. She was awed by her mother and aunts and cousins, but haunted by the unspoken, untold stories of the barrio—even as she tried to find her own voice in the sea of language around her, written and spoken, English and Spanish, bodies and books, Western art and sacred altars. Her family became her private pantheon, a gathering circle of powerful orisha-like women with tragic real-world wounds, and she vowed to tell their stories—but first she’d have to get off the stairs and join the dance. She’d have to find her language.

Weaving together Hudes’s love of music with the songs of her family, the lessons of North Philly with those of Yale, this is a multimythic dive into home, memory, and belonging—narrated by an obsessed girl who fought to become an artist so she could capture the world she loved in all its wild and delicate beauty.

When the stones of her house begin to rattle and shift and call out mysterious messages to her in the middle of the night, Pauline Sinclair, age ninety-nine, knows she will not make it to her one-hundredth birthday. She has lived a modest life in Mason Hall, a rural Jamaican village, educating herself with stolen books, raising her two children, surviving by becoming a successful ganja farmers in the area, and experiencing both deep passion and true loss with her beloved baby father, Clive.

Behind this seemingly benign façade, however, Miss Pauline has buried many secrets. To avenge her enslaved ancestors, she has built her house, stone by stone, from the ruins of a plantation on her land. And she knows more than she has told about the disappearance of Turner Buchanan--a white American man who came to Mason Hall decades ago to claim her land. The whispering stones, Miss Pauline realizes, are telling her that she must make peace with the past before she dies. 

With help from her American granddaughter, Justine, and Lamont, a teenager she enlists to help her navigate the mysteries of the Internet, she searches for those she has wronged. But as the people and stories of her past come to invade her present, she discovers that there are shocking secrets even she could not have anticipated.

Lyrical, funny, eerie, and profound, infused with the patois and natural beauty of Jamaica, A House for Miss Pauline tells a timely and nuanced story about identity, colonialism, and land--and introduces an unforgettable heroine who is a model for living life on her own terms.

Acclaimed food writer and chef Melissa Thompson takes us on a journey to this Caribbean jewel through 80 recipes and more than 500 years of history and influences. The recipes include classic Jamaican favorites, such as Jerk Pork, Braised Oxtail, Ackee & Saltfish, and Peanut Punch, as well as original dishes created with Jamaica’s abundant natural larder and twists on classics.

This beautiful cookbook features in-depth research into the evolution of Jamaica’s food. It charts the contribution of indigenous Jamaicans, the Taino. It follows the impact of colonization, and how the periods under Spanish and British rule left an indelible mark on the nation’s gastronomy, without shying away from their brutality: Eyewitness accounts describe the barbarity of the colonial powers. And it recounts how enslaved men and women from West and Central Africa brought inspiration from home and familiar cooking techniques to create legacy dishes that are still celebrated today. The contribution of Indian and Chinese indentured workers is also examined. These stories are woven into the recipes, so the reader is invested in the dishes they cook.

It is 1898, and groups of starving Puerto Ricans, los hambrientos, roam the parched countryside and dusty towns begging for food. Under the yoke of Spanish oppression, the Caribbean island is forced to prepare to wage war with the United States. Up in the mountainous coffee region of Utuado, Vicente Vega and Valentina Sanchez labor to keep their small farm from the creditors. When the Spanish-American War and the great San Ciriaco Hurricane of 1899 bring devastating upheaval, the young couple is lured, along with thousands of other puertorriquenos, to the sugar plantations of Hawaii—another US territory—where they are confronted by the hollowness of America’s promises of prosperity. Writing in the tradition of great Latin American storytelling, Marisel Vera’s The Taste of Sugar is an unforgettable novel of love and endurance, and a timeless portrait of the reasons we leave home.