Red Was the Midnight, Paperback

Red Was the Midnight, is a riveting novel that intertwines the imaginative story of a striving "colored" family-three sisters and a brother-with an account of an actual race riot that roiled Atlanta for four days in September, 1906. In this page-turner, the author pulls you into the ambitions of Beatrice, the haughty eldest daughter; the adulterous affairs of Fat, the family's only son and a church deacon, who runs a thriving numbers and bootlegging racket; the return of their sister Mary Alice, after a mysterious seven-year absence; and the dilemma facing "Fast Ruby," their youngest and prettiest sister, whose newborn daughter's milky complexion is shocking. As the family tries to cope with secrets, betrayals, sibling rivalry, and a host of other conflicts, the race riot-fueled by a contentious political campaign and hysterical, questionable newspaper headlines-throws them into a fight for their lives. Historical fiction, with a title taken from a poem, "Litany of Atlanta," by W. E. B. Du Bois, Red Was the Midnight follows events from a hundred years ago that eerily foreshadow those of today.

About the Author:

Portia Tewogbade is the author of the novel, During a Dry Season, and short stories published in African Voices, Mobius, and the Hawaii Pacific Review, among other publications. She is the recipient of the 2015 Terry Kay Prize for Fiction and other awards. The author is a former instructor of English and history and lives near Atlanta, her hometown. She is currently at work on another novel that is also set in Atlanta.