Mama Fannie

Mama Fannie was found in a sugarcane field in central Louisiana by slave women who came out to work one early fall morning in 1853. She was about two and a half years old with no shoes or coat on. She was very tiny, white, and beautiful. Her fourteen-year-old pregnant slave mother arrived on a ship in New Orleans and was sold immediately to a plantation owner in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. Martha attempted to save her child from the hurt and shame she was experiencing by leaving her in the field for a surrogate mother to raise. Mama Fannie grew up to be a Christian woman of character, raised her many biracial children in a loving manner, and was allowed to marry three of the fathers of her many children and became the root of her family—the Griffins.

As seen on the Today Show: This true story of an unforgettable mother, her devoted daughter, and their life in the Detroit numbers of the 1960s and 1970s highlights "the outstanding humanity of black America" (James McBride). In 1958, the very same year that an unknown songwriter named Berry Gordy borrowed $800 to found Motown Records, a pretty young mother from Nashville, Tennessee, borrowed $100 from her brother to run a numbers racket out of her home. That woman was Fannie Davis, Bridgett M. Davis's mother. Part bookie, part banker, mother, wife, and granddaughter of slaves, Fannie ran her numbers business for thirty-four years, doing what it took to survive in a legitimate business that just happened to be illegal. She created a loving, joyful home, sent her children to the best schools, bought them the best clothes, mothered them to the highest standard, and when the tragedy of urban life struck, soldiered on with her stated belief: "Dying is easy. Living takes guts." A daughter's moving homage to an extraordinary parent, The World According to Fannie Davis is also the suspenseful, unforgettable story about the lengths to which a mother will go to "make a way out of no way" and provide a prosperous life for her family -- and how those sacrifices resonate over time.

There is no subject in the world more stereotypical than slavery of African Americans. This book is about four families: my mother and father’s families and my husband’s mother and father’s families, dating back to the era before slaves were brought out of Africa. Historically, our families evolved on a continuous basis and have proven to have been strong, resilient people, whose hopes and dreams were not easily squelched. We have researched the backgrounds of these relatives who were a part of the Atlantic slave trade because I want my children and grandchildren as well as the world to know who their ancestors were. I want them to know under what circumstances they came to America and finally became citizens with voting rights, educational and financial privileges, marital rights, and freedom. I want to clear up the misrepresentation and confusion of facts about slavery and the black man’s worth. Slaves over the last two thousand years have become a misnomer to our young people’s minds, and there is little knowledge of this period. Many civilizations and nations have been involved in slavery during the course of history. Contemporary records and archival documents were sought in an effort to reach greater heights of authenticity, enhance ancestral reality, and relate the facts to younger generations.

From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream vividly recounts the journey of an African-American woman from rural, segregated Mississippi through academia, corporate America, and politics. It is the story of how she triumphed even when, more often than not, the ugly realities of racism and sexism tried to deter her. She says, "If it were not for God, my Creator, who endowed me, empowered me, and who has sustained me during this journey, nothing would have been possible. I give thanks every day, often multiple times a day, for the little things as well as those that are significant." This book tells the broader story, too, of how her life epitomizes what Equal Rights have meant and have not meant for blacks and women as she has lived through their maturation during the last 50 years. What better moment than today to look deeply at the life of a woman who prepared herself and worked tirelessly to achieve her goals because she believed in the promise that all citizens have a chance at achieving the American Dream? See how her faith in God helped her achieve her purpose in life. From Liberty to Magnolia shows readers, especially aspiring women and minorities how to navigate and ultimately embrace the challenges at every major crossroads and be triumphant, relying on God every step of the way. A Discussion Guide is included for use by book clubs, classes, and group forums. "An engrossing personal tale." - Kirkus Review In her book, enhanced by family photos, Ellis sets her personal battles within the context of the civil rights and feminist movements, both of which helped fuel her determination. She recounts stories of sexual harassment that are especially relevant in today's #MeToo environment. And the early sections offer striking portraits of segregation, as she recounts cross burnings in front of her house and the murder of a friend's father who was involved in voter registration....an engrossing personal tale.... this account offers an important historical perspective on two continuing struggles.

Now a New York Times and USA Bestseller! Seek a fresh start with Amish widower Samuel Fisher as he journeys from Lancaster County to Bluegrass Country, hoping to find a balm for the grief he’s carried with him. Will this single father, burdened by yesterday’s memories, discover a new and perhaps better life in Kentucky, the land of tomorrow? Esther Beiler, who helps watch Samuel’s children, develops a crush on Samuel and a true affection for his kids. Can she win his heart, or has she already lost it to an English woman? How will God untangle star-crossed lovers when jealousies and misconceptions threaten to tear them apart?

Winner of the 2021 Eudora Welty Prize In contrast to other literary genres, drama has received little attention in southern studies, and women playwrights in general receive less recognition than their male counterparts. In Marginalized: Southern Women Playwrights Confront Race, Region, and Gender, author Casey Kayser addresses these gaps by examining the work of southern women playwrights, making the argument that representations of the American South on stage are complicated by difficulties of identity, genre, and region. Through analysis of the dramatic texts, the rhetoric of reviews of productions, as well as what the playwrights themselves have said about their plays and productions, Kayser delineates these challenges and argues that playwrights draw on various conscious strategies in response. These strategies, evident in the work of such playwrights as Pearl Cleage, Sandra Deer, Lillian Hellman, Beth Henley, Marsha Norman, and Shay Youngblood, provide them with the opportunity to lead audiences to reconsider monolithic understandings of northern and southern regions and, ultimately, create new visions of the South.

Under Cedar Shades spans five generations of American women and their families as they struggle to endure displacement, color discrimination, famine, war and exploitation in 19th century America. The story begins with the forced removal of the Cherokees along the Trail of Tears in 1838 and continues as many of them intermingle with Welch, African, Portuguese, and Scots-Irish immigrants. Family secrets abound, as a modern-day descendant presses her grandmother for answers to who she is. But her grandmother harbors a terrible secret she can neither forget nor reveal. Under Cedar Shades is about endurance in the face of adversity, discrimination and injustice. It draws on the Cherokee belief in the sacred nature of the cedar, which never loses its branches, even in winter. “A multigenerational saga, comparable in characterization and narrative skill (though not in size) to the work of James Michener. . . .A fascinating and entertaining piece of historical fiction.” (Amazon.com six-star reader review) “Underwood does a fine job humanizing the contradictions underpinning the inception of the United States – treaties and hypocrisy, land stolen at bayonet point, slavery for some and autonomy for others. . . . Her strengths lie in evoking broad washes of ancestral time punctuated by detailed scenes of domesticity . . . . Lively characters keep pages turning at a steady tick.” (Kirkus Discovery Reviews)

In age of elegance and excess, Lilly Westbrook longs for a love both true and eternal. Newport, Rhode Island, 1899, is a place of shimmering waves, sleek yachts, and ladies of leisure. Of opulent mansions that serve as summer cottages for the rich and famous. Home of railroad magnates and banking tycoons--dashing young men and the women who aspire to marry them. But it's not the place for lady novelists. Especially not those who pen disreputable dime novels. This poses a problem for Lilly Westbrook, because that's exactly what she does. No one in Lilly's social set knows she pens fiction under the nom de plume Fannie Cole. Not her family or the wealthy young man about to propose to her. And especially not Jackson Grail, the long-lost beau who just bought her publishing company...and who stirs her heart more than she cares to admit. But Lilly must put aside her feelings and follow the path that will maintain her family's social stature and provide the financial security that everyone is depending on. Now Lilly faces a double dilemma. Can she continue to protect her secret identity? And will she have the courage to choose the man who will risk it all just to win her heart?