Acclaimed author Nancy Johnson (The Kindest Lie) is back with her highly-anticipated second novel, People of Means, a driving novel about a mother and daughter each seeking justice and following their dreams in 1960s Nashville and 1990s Chicago.
SYNOPSIS
Two women. Two pivotal moments. One dream for justice and equality.
In the fall of 1959, Freda Gilroy arrives on the campus of Fisk University full of hope, carrying a suitcase and the voice of her father telling her she’s part of a family legacy of greatness. Soon, the ugliness of the Jim Crow South intrudes, and she’s thrust into a movement for social change. Freda is reluctant to get involved, torn between a soon-to-be doctor her parents approve of and an audacious young man willing to risk it all in the name of justice. Freda finds herself caught between two worlds, and two loves, and must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the advancement of her people.
In 1992 Chicago, Freda’s daughter Tulip is an ambitious PR professional on track for an exciting career, if workplace politics and racial microaggressions don’t get in her way. But with the ruling in the Rodney King trial weighing heavily on her, Tulip feels called to action. When she makes an irreversible professional misstep as she seeks to uplift her community, she must decide, just like her mother had three decades prior, what she’s willing to risk in the name of justice and equality.
End of Synopsis
A native of Chicago’s South Side, Nancy Johnson worked for more than a decade as an Emmy-nominated, award-winning television journalist at CBS and ABC affiliates nationwide. A graduate of Northwestern University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she lives in downtown Chicago and manages brand communications for a large nonprofit. Nancy’s first book, The Kindest Lie, a deep-dive into race, family and the American Dream, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection and an Indie Next pick.
Nancy’s new novel, People of Means, is ripe for book club reading lists and is available where books are sold.
Read more about People of Means here.
This post was written by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., founder & editor-in-chief of The Burton Wire. Follow Nsenga on IG @Ntellectual.
