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Bernadine Evaristo's New Project Celebrates "Lost" Works From Black Authors

Evaristo is working with Penguin to re-publish six novels that were under-appreciated first time around.

by L'Oréal Blackett

Feb. 5, 2021

David Levenson/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo has compiled six "rediscovered" books by Black authors for new literary series, Black Britain: Writing Back. The celebrated Girl, Woman, Other author is working with Penguin to champion "lost" works written by Black authors over the past 100 years.

Evaristo, who became the first Black woman to win the Booker Prize in 2019, says she's excited for new readers to engage with these writers and "discover their riches." She has been working on the list with Simon Prosser, publishing director of Hamish Hamilton. For Prosser, the Black Britain: Writing Back series is "a dream come true" and a chance to make "further change happen." He added that it was a joy to give the author's books a "second chance" at mainstream success.

The first six books have been given a fresh new redesign by Black British artists and the audiobooks will be voiced by Black actors.

Speaking to Penguin, Evaristo enthuses: "These books will take the reader from 18th-century London to 1920s Trinidad; from inside the heads of women in the mental health system to inside the life of a working-class Black woman barrister making her way in a white, middle-class, male profession; from the ethics of stolen African artefacts in British museums and into a family home haunted by past that lingers in the present."

Bernard and the Cloth Monkey

Written by Judith Bryan, Bernard and the Cloth Monkey is described as a "shattering portrayal of family, guilt and unbreakable bonds." Bryan won the SAGA prize (a literary award for trailblazing new Black British novelists) for the book back in 1997.

The Fat Lady Sings by Jacqueline Roy

Set during the 1990s, The Fat Lady Sings is a "deeply moving" novel that explores the "intersection between race, class and mental health in the UK." Written by Jacqueline Roy, it follows the "unapologetically loud" Gloria, who is living in a London psychiatric ward. Gloria is then joined by another young Black woman – Merle – who is "full of silences and fear." Soon their life stories are revealed.

Incomparable World

Incomparable World by S.I Martin tells the untold stories of African American soldiers seeking refuge in a reimagined London during the 1700s. For soldiers Buckram, Georgie, and William, life in London is met with poverty, crime, and chaos. Evaristo describes the novel as a "rollicking thriller" that's adventurous and exuberant.

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Minty Alley is the one and only novel renowned historian and journalist C.L.R James ever produced, and is considered the first novel by a Caribbean person published in the UK. Written nearly 100 years ago, the novel is set in 1920s Trinidad and follows Haynes, a man who is forced to move to the working-class area of Minty Alley after his mother dies and his life is turned upside down. The charming and humorous novel sees Haynes witness the community's outrageous love affairs and passionate arguments, before finding himself at the "heart of the action."

The Dancing Face

University lecturer Gus Dixon has bold plans to steal a priceless Benin mask, 'The Dancing Face', from a British museum as part of his campaign for reparations to Africa by European governments. However, is Gus prepared for what it will cost him? Written by Mike Phillips, The Dancing Face sees Gus embroiled in a whirlwind of danger (murder, espionage, blackmail) and asks, how should the mask be used and what is the secret of its power?

Without Prejudice

Without Prejudice is a courtroom thriller that Evaristo describes as "impressive and unique." A novel by Nicola Williams, it follows Lee, a young barrister from a Caribbean background, who works in a cut-throat environment. Per Penguin, the barrister finds herself in alarmingly deep waters when she takes on the high-profile case of notorious millionaire and playboy, Clive Omartian.