Memphis: LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023

by Tara M Stringfellow

*THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE

'A rhapsodic hymn to Black women' New York Times Book Review

'Epic yet intimate' Cosmopolitan

'Ferocious and compassionate' Irish Times

FAMILY CAN HOLD YOU TOGETHER. AND TEAR YOU APART.

Joan was only a child the last time she visited Memphis. She doesn't remember the bustle of Beale Street or the smell of honeysuckle as she climbs the porch steps to her aunt's house. But when the front door opens, she does remember her cousin Derek.

As Joan learns more about her family's past she discovers she's not the only North woman to have experienced great hurt. But she also sees their resilience and courage, how these extraordinary women fry green tomatoes and braid hair and sing all the while.

Joan can't change the past, but she can change her future. It's time to find her own song to sing.

**** READERS LOVE MEMPHIS ****

'I couldn't put it down. You will fall in love with these women'

'One of the best books I've ever read'

'Utterly spellbinding'

'This book has my entire heart'

'It felt so real - I cried at their pain and smiled at their joy'

'Intricately plotted, wildly satisfying'

'Epic, in every sense of the word. It completely blew me away'

• ISBN10: 1529339235
• ISBN13: 9781529339239
• Publish Date: 7 April 2022 (first published 5 April 2022)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 29 April 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: John Murray Press
• Imprint: John Murray Publishers Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

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As my mother helped undress me with a gentleness that only increased my fear, I understood then why the first sin on this earth had been a murder. Among kin.

 

Thank you, NetGalley and John Murray Press for the chance to read and review Memphis by Tara M Stringfellow!

 

Memphis is an absolutely wonderful book! It's the story of 4 women and how they work to protect each other and their families from the violence that is never too far from their home.

 

The story starts with Miriam moving back to her home in Memphis to live with her sister, August, and her son, in their mother Hazel's old home, after Jax, her army husband takes his anger out on her in front of their children. It's early on that we realize that Joan (Miriam's older daughter) was assaulted by her cousin at the age of 3. While action was taken then, they're all living under the same roof which doesn't make things any easier on Joan and her little sister My.

 

Honestly, one wouldn't be able to tell that this was a debut novel. Tara M. Stringfellow put together a beautiful book on how complicated family can be. This is not to say that Derek is ever forgiven by his mother or family, he is taken from his family for some time as well, but the entire situation makes you feel really incredibly helpless. As family what do you do?