top of page
Search
Writer's pictureInk Mag

BOOK CLUB:

BY CAROLYN HOLLAND


All hell breaks loose when the only son of a well-connected Nephilim aristocrat disappears from the Atchafalaya Swamp without a trace. The Nephilim King orders the immortal Brothers of the Dark Veil to scour every inch of the swamp to find him, dead or alive.


Preternatural and human worlds collide when a trusted member of the Brothers of the Dark Veil meets an Obeah Priestess enslaved on Magnolia Hill, the most infamous plantation in Louisiana. Theirs is a forbidden love that will pierce the Dark Veil and shatter the secret world of the half-breed black angels forever.





Mehwish


Zanzibari Heiress Mehwish Shumaila bin Said al-Murgebi murdered her grandmother to retrieve an ancient Grimoire that had been authored in hell. Without a backward glance, she boarded her future husband’s ship bound for the Americas with the book of black majick tucked inside her reticule. Mehwish’s destiny was a dark and twisted one that would lead her to the infamous Magnolia Hill Plantation where she would be forced to endure a life unlike anything she could ever have imagined—or feared.

Flossie


A new kind of evil took up residence on Magnolia Hill upon the arrival of the Zanzibari witch. Flossie, the plantation cook, midwife, and Obeah conjure woman knew evil when she saw it. It was in that witch’s pitch-black eyes when Flossie stole her coveted book of black majick, knowing the witch would gladly kill her and her remaining descendants to have it back.





 


I’ve been engaged in a love affair with books for as long as I can remember. I was that introverted little kid with powder blue cat eyeglasses, never without a book in hand. There is a direct correlation between my writing journey and two life-changing events: the first being a visit from Uncle Sammy, and the second relates to the death of my beloved brother.


My parents owned a two-family home in the predominantly black area of Plainfield, a regional hub for central New Jersey, located twenty-five miles outside of New York City. I was seven or thereabouts, and my brother David was barely a year older when they informed us of their intention to take in an elderly boarder. There was a two-bedroom apartment and three single rooms on the other side of our house. The boarder would occupy one of the single rooms.


It was late July and blazing hot when a white lady with a bad dye job dropped the gentleman we would come to know as Uncle Sammy off. He was a tall, dark-skinned man with a pink bottom lip. I recall being shushed by my mom after commenting on how hot he must be in the black dress hat and dark wool suit he was wearing.


My dad assisted the old man to his room, while my mom plated the delicious fried chicken, potato salad, and fried cabbage meal she prepared for our mysterious new “Uncle” and placed the food on a serving tray for my brother. She filled a thermos with Kool-Aid and ice, wrapped a generous serving of homemade peach cobbler in foil for me to carry and told us to deliver the food and bring our behinds home.


When we arrived, Uncle Sammy was sitting before a snack table with a paper towel tucked in his collar, hot air from the box fan in the window blowing on his face. We followed Mom’s instructions and placed the food, drink, and dessert on the snack tray. We smiled when he picked up a piece of chicken and ate. David asked Uncle Sammy if he wanted anything else and received a vacant stare. We would later learn that Uncle Sammy was senile and suffering from aphasia. He’d lost his ability to speak. David and I exchanged a mischievous look and, in tacit agreement, simultaneously reached for the dessert.


We wore that cobbler out!

READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE LATEST ISSUE OF INTELLECTUAL INK MAGAZINE

 

Intellectual Ink Magazine believes that supporting black businesses is essential to creating economic justice for the Black community. By utilizing the power of the Black dollar, small businesses have the potential to create jobs, provide vital resources, and stimulate economic development in their local communities. Unfortunately, Black-owned businesses are facing unique challenges due to systemic racism and discrimination in access to capital and other resources. Throughout the year we will be SPOTLIGHTING BLACK ENTREPRENEURS to help with these initiatives.



Want your book, business, and or art featured on IntellectualInk.com and blasted to our mailing list for free? Email moneeabney@intellectualink.com for more information!


Comments


bottom of page