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This profound and intense debut novel is the story of a young African American woman from West Philadelphia who finds her path to a bright future in gentrified Brooklyn, New York, blocked when she can't let go of the love she lost.
Crystelle has a well-employed fiancé and a life in New York City that most young professionals would envy. She has come a long way from skipping rope on the cracked sidewalks of the rough Philadelphia neighborhood where she was raised by a loving mother and grandfather. She experienced good times and bad in equal measure in a community where people worked, played, and sometimes fought hard too. She didn't leave the past behind her though. A ghost from those West Philly days haunts her, a spirit whose presence in her dreams is as welcome as it is unsettling. That spirit is Jimmie, her high school sweetheart -- the one who she watched get gunned down one hot, unforgettable night all those years ago.
Unnerved by her dreams of Jimmie and the suspicion that she may be pregnant, Crystelle takes a train back to her old neighborhood to reconnect with friends and family. There, with the help of Jimmie's mother -- a woman who Crystelle loves like family and who makes a prison visit to the young man who murdered her son -- Crystelle comes to grips with the memory that haunts her and learns the power of forgiveness and the need to move on.
With its deeply resonant depictions of urban African American life and the cultural forces that challenge and sustain their communities, Crystelle Mourning is a triumphant, lyrical beginning to a bright new talent in fiction.
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Eisa Nefertari Ulen teaches English at Hunter College in New York City, and her essays have been widely anthologized. Nominated by Essence magazine for a National Association of Black Journalists Award, she has contributed to numerous other publications, including The Washington Post, Ms., Health, and CreativeNonfiction.org. She is the recipient of a Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center Fellowship for Young African American Fiction Writers and a Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center Fellowship. Ulen graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and earned a master's degree from Columbia University. She lives with her husband in Brooklyn.
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"With its languid pacing and rhythmic voice, Eisa Nefertari Ulen's novel at times feels like an elongated spoken-word poem....Ulen manages to pull it off with her nuanced depictions of Black life and her obvious love for her characters as they strive to create new realities out of the heartbreaking events of the past."
-- The Washington Post
"Ulen wisely takes her time revealing Crystelle's pain, creating an authentic quality to her story. You feel for Crystelle...even as you're urging her to move forward and leave the past behind."
-- Essence
"A rhythmic flow of words and descriptive detail."
-- Uptown magazine
"Eisa is a careful writer who strives to craft character, scene, and ambiguity. Her voice has the beauty and economy of poetry."
-- Jeffery Renard Allen, author of Rails Under My Back
"Affirms faith in the enduring power of young love. Welcome Eisa Ulen."
-- Elizabeth Nunez, author of Prospero's Daughter and Bruised Hibiscus
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Plus, receive recommendations and exclusive offers on all of your favorite books and authors from Simon & Schuster.
By clicking 'Sign me up' I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the privacy policy and terms of use. Free eBook offer available to NEW US subscribers only. Offer redeemable at Simon & Schuster's ebook fulfillment partner. Must redeem within 90 days. See full terms and conditions and this month's choices.
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