Cora and Martha and Other Stories, by Thomas Penn Johnson
Spanning from the Civil War to the near present, Cora and Martha and Other Stories follows Black protagonists from all walks of life—yard children, urban bootleggers, domestic servants, barbers, seminarians, teachers, soldiers, truck drivers, and even fairies in a fairy tale.
Set in a range of societies—homogeneous Black communities, racially segregated and interracial spaces, and racially indistinguishable worlds—these stories explore the universal struggle between good and evil. Through Reconstruction, life in “the projects,” church-centered neighborhoods, the American South, Vermont in the 1960s, Washington, D.C., in the 1970s, and into the new millennium, each character embarks on a journey to discover their quintessential humanity.
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