People of Means

September 1, 2024

Two generations of Black women pursue their college and career dreams while experiencing racism and fighting injustice. Freda finds her way during the civil rights movement in Nashville; her daughter Tulip is on her own journey in 1992 Chicago, following the Rodney King verdict. Johnson's second novel, after The Kindest Lie, a Target Book Club, Indie Next, and LibraryReads pick, receives a 75K-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.

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December 16, 2024
Johnson (The Kindest Lie) delivers an illuminating multigenerational drama of a Black mother and daughter finding their way amid America’s racial inequities. It begins in 1959 Nashville, where Chicagoan Freda Gilroy arrives to study mathematics at Fisk University, an HBCU revered by her father, who, like W.E.B. Du Bois, considered higher education to be “their people’s true emancipation.” She’s soon caught in a love triangle with premed student Gerald, who subscribes to her father’s ideals, and firebrand activist Darius, who drops out to focus on battling segregation. Eventually, Freda ends up with Gerald. A parallel narrative set in 1992 Chicago follows their daughter, Tulip, a PR agent whose dismissive colleagues chalk up her presence to their firm’s diversity quota. With the Los Angeles riots roiling the country, Tulip is torn between striving for professional success and fighting for justice, especially after she gets involved with a protest group whose members dismiss her for being more privileged than they are. As the alternating story lines unfold, Johnson reveals what happened between Freda, Gerald, and Darius, and the effects of Freda’s choices on Tulip, offering a nuanced reflection on her characters’ sacrifices and the limits of Black respectability politics. It’s a satisfying tale of intergenerational reckoning. Agent: Danielle Bukowski, Sterling Lord Literistic.

February 15, 2025
The daughter of a well-to-do Black family is drawn into the Civil Rights Movement. Three decades later, her daughter pushes limits and uncovers family secrets. Johnson's powerful second novel begins with Freda Gilroy's first day at Nashville's Fisk University in 1959. She has instructions from her parents to be excellent and above reproach. They've already identified a medical student, Gerald Vance, to be her future husband. The Chicago girl is stunned by the racism she experiences in the South, segregation nothing like what she's seen back home. Her parents have forbidden her to get involved in protests, but she's drawn in by Darius Moore, a handsome saxophone player and Civil Rights activist who gives soul-stirring speeches. She's thrown into a dilemma--her college years are spent resisting her feelings for Darius, hiding her activism, and then weighing which man, and which kind of life, she wants to choose. Three decades later, Freda's daughter, Tulip, a public relations professional, has defied her parents by dating a working-class man. Key, her boyfriend of two years, is a bus driver. She is uncomfortable as one of few Black employees at her PR agency and is striving for a promotion. She's stunned when the police officers who attacked Rodney King are acquitted and feels driven to speak up. In doing so, she learns more about her work, her parents, her lover, and herself. Each of the main characters are sympathetic, even as they make choices that lead to pain for others. Johnson doesn't flinch from the terror young activists experienced in the Civil Rights era, and by exploring the parallels in Tulip's life 30 years later, Johnson emphasizes that while some things change, racism stays the same. A heart-wrenching story of love, family, racism, and resistance across decades.

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February 1, 2025
Johnson (The Kindest Lie, 2021) returns with the captivating, multigenerational story of one Black family across two turbulent timelines. In 1959, Freda is a promising young student at Fisk University, a Tennessee HBCU. She hails from Chicago and is ready to carry forward her family's legacy of education and upward mobility, but she finds herself unprepared for the malevolent intrusions of the Jim Crow South. She falls for two young men, one determined to finish his education and move ahead within the system and the other a passionate activist set on resisting the status quo. The effects of Freda's choices are reflected in her daughter Tulip's story, set in 1992. Tulip is a public relations executive, one of few Black professionals in her company, quickly climbing her firm's ladder and mystified by her secretive mother's past. When the Los Angeles riots upend the country, Tulip faces a similar quandary to what her mother did decades before. How much is she willing to sacrifice? Through her richly drawn characters, Johnson illustrates the effects of class, race, and family and the lasting consequences of our decisions.

COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.