4 Must-Read Debut Novels by Black Authors

By Sila Kabongo

To celebrate Black History Month, we’ve picked four brilliant books that celebrate  – and reveal – black culture. Read, learn and enjoy.

Love in Colour by Bolu Babolola

A Sunday Times bestselling collection of mythical tales from round the world ‘remixed’ into joyful modern love stories. I loved that the author made all the female characters the narrators, giving them a voice, contrary to the original tales. Like competitive swimmer, Osun – inspired by the story of Yoruba river goddess Oshun – who is courageous enough to leave her polygamous husband for another man who sees more than just the surface.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

After seeing that this novel is based on a young Black British woman in London, I had to read her story. Queenie Jenkins, 25, is a Black Jamaican journalist living in Clapham with her grandparents after splitting from long-term partner, Tom. Soon she takes a downward spiral, getting involved with the wrong men, and self-sabotaging at  work. Despite the constant drama, her friends and family are always there to help her. Queenie is being developed into a TV series, coming to Channel 4  in 2023.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

This isn’t a mystery; we know the killer is Ayoola – a beautiful and popular Nigerian woman who attracts dead-end relationships. Literally. Her older sister and nurse, Korede, assists Ayoola with disposing of the bodies of her male victims. Korede is in love with a doctor at her hospital – but he is in love with her serial killer sister – and her loyalty is tested. I spent more time thinking about why Ayoola is psychotic than her crimes, analysing flashbacks to the siblings abusive upbringing. Winner of the British Book Award for Crime & Thriller Book of the Year 2020.

 Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

A poetic and emotional easy-read whose unnamed main character is a Black British male and photographer who falls in love with a dancer he met at a bar. Open Water is written in the second person, giving it an immediacy in which we, the readers, face racial profiling, loss, grief, and the strain that all the trauma puts on his relationship. Caleb gives no character a name, perhaps as a metaphor for us being in the shoes of the main character. A rare and rhythmic read for understanding the culture and perspectives of black men growing up in London today.

Read more of Sila’s book reviews at RealReadsOnline – Fall In Love With Reading.

Sila completed Introduction to Copywriting with Maggie Richards.