BOOK CLUB MAGIC
A Book and Social Club For Us, By Us.
BCM’S MISSION
The mission of Book Club Magic (BCM) is to create a platform that promotes a community of brown and black women, through reading and engaging in discussions about works of literature produced by brown authors. It’s important for us to read literature by authors that look like us, authors who are addressing pressing social issues in literature that affects us everyday.
December’s Read 2023
Black Cake
THEME: Inheritance
We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?
In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.
Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?
Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.
Discussion date:
Dec 30th
BCM’S VISION
To normalize reading and literacy discourse in the black and brown community as a way of expressiveness. We will create wellness, by hosting monthly meetings, performing community service, promoting and supporting black owned businesses.
*Membership is currently referral-based, only. Your referral must be an active BCM member.