cover image One Night in Georgia

One Night in Georgia

Celeste O. Norfleet. Amistad, $16.99 trade paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-232989-9

Set against the tumultuous summer of 1968, Norfleet’s novel is a rich, devastating story of lives trapped in a violent period of history. Three black friends drive from New York City to Spelman College in Atlanta to begin their senior year. Zelda, the narrator and daughter of civil rights activists; Veronica, from a wealthy family; and Daphne, whose mother was abandoned by Daphne’s white father, hit the road using the Motorist Green Book, a guide for black motorists to hotels, cafes, and restrooms that will serve them. The girls see promise ahead, having struggled with tragedies: for Zelda, witnessing her father’s murder by police; for Veronica, escape from an arranged marriage; and for Daphne, her mother’s suicide. In warm summer days and nights on the road, the characters discuss racial uplift versus black power, and nonviolence versus black militancy. However, as the trio drive deeper into the Old South, they discover that civil rights are slow in coming below the Mason-Dixon line. When their car breaks down in rural Georgia, the novel takes a dark turn. Forced to stay in the small segregated town to await a car part, the girls stumble into a racially charged situation at a local dance. Norfleet brilliantly depicts what it means to be a black female in a tempestuous period of American history, and provides a gripping narrative to boot. (June)