Gone Missing in Harlem

Karla FC Holloway is the James. B. Duke Professor Emerita of English and Law at Duke University, where her research and teaching have included African American literary and cultural studies, bioethics, gender, and law. She is the author of A Death in Harlem: A Novel, published by TriQuarterly Books

• Incidenti. My baby gone?The War Years and a Renaissance1. Your money or your life.2. Just us women.3. Peculiar since day one.4. From peril to promise.5. Selma.A Great Depression6. (No) Credit to the Race.7. Tell me.8. Kin.9. The words to say it.10. Just prudent.11. Far to go.12. Marks like a map.13. Where you been?14. A wild tangle.15. The web she offered.16. Home training.17. Women’s work.18. Quem quaeritis?19. All the dark things.20. How we doin’?21. The kidnap book.22. Let the dead bury their dead.23. How long you got?24. A common denominator.25. Some things stay.26. A ways and a means.Author’s Note

“With an evocative mix of questions and revelations, Gone Missing in Harlem shows a vivid sense of the lost and found. Karla FC Holloway again gives us the rich layers of Weldon Thomas’s detective work. Migration, abduction, and striving create the sense of wonder that fuels this resonant novel.” —Ravi Howard, author of Driving the King: A Novel“The novel is both page-turning and deeply insightful into character, class, racism, ‘dreams deferred,’ and motherly love. At once a literary story of a family and a missing-person mystery, this genre-blending spotlights the different kinds of justice offered to African-American families, the trade-offs and sorrows of the Great Migration, and the compromised decisions a mother like DeLilah must make in order to save her family. The book’s historical detail and texture is exquisitely rendered and especially effective when used to demonstrate the great care that the women of Harlem use to protect their families in the small but important ways that they could. A compelling read, the novel is a significant contribution to the dynamic stories of the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance.” —Belle Boggs, author of The Gulf"Gone Missing in Harlem is a lyrical stroll through Harlem’s heyday. From its dive bars and delicatessens to its high-toned parlors and kitchenettes, Karla FC Holloway’s sophomore novel brings the storied neighborhood to marvelous life. In the 'dusk-dark,' back-alley deals are made and undone as grieving women conjure ghosts of those gone missing, whether claimed by influenza, violence, or treachery. A thrilling, satisfying follow-up to A Death in Harlem." —Cherene Sherrard-Johnson, author of Dorothy West’s Paradise: A Biography of Class and Color;"Karla FC Holloway’s incandescent characters and lyrical imagery inhabit a mystery story that probes one of life’s greatest puzzles—the secrets of the human heart. From the time-locked deep south to the vibrant streets of Harlem, Holloway’s intimate portrayal of African American life during the Great Depression transports readers to a time and place that may be all too recognizable for some, and unknown and hidden to others. Gone Missing in Harlem is brilliant: unforgettable, troubling, surprising, and, ultimately, completely satisfying." —Manuel Ramos, author of Angels in the Wind"This works both as a page-turner and a portrait of a vanished era."—Publishers Weekly