Nobody's Magic
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4.0 • 7 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
“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
A GMA Buzz Pick!
A Most Anticipated Book by Essence · The Millions · Atlantic Journal Constitution · Glamour · Teen Vogue · Bustle · BookPage · Nashville Scene · Ms. Magazine · Parnassus Musing
A Best Book of February by Washington Post · Nylon · BookRiot
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Poet Birdsong (Negotiations) makes her fiction debut with a searing portrait of three young Black women who live with albinism in Shreveport, La. Suzette Elkins, 20, is held back from becoming an adult by her sheltering parents. As a child, a friend's parent threatened to cut out her strange-looking eyes, prompting her father to cloister her in the house and forbid her from attending college, driving, or holding a job. Maple Christine Moffett grieves the loss of her mother, who was killed in a drive-by shooting. Her albinism attracts rather than repels, creating its own set of complications, as men believe she has magical powers. Agnes Kirkkendoll was mocked for her complexion in high school. She struggles to achieve economic independence despite holding a PhD, and stays in a toxic relationship with a white man while working as a test proctor. Suzette's budding romance with a body shop technician helps her achieve some degree of autonomy, while Maple, a recent college graduate, is buoyed by a friendship with a man who also experiences great loss; and Agnes's frustrations heat up to a consequential boiling point. Birdsong imbues the characters with palpable emotions and crafts spot-on dialogue, conveying vernacular speech with layers of pathos and wit. It's a stunning achievement.
