Everyman

Conner’s inviting debut unearths a young Black woman’s family history. Eve Mann, 22, was raised by her taciturn aunt in Chicago and knows only that her mother died in childbirth after leaving her hometown of Ideal, Ga., for Chicago. She feels disconnected from her family history and heritage and is unsettled by her friend Nelle, who, after coming out as a lesbian, understands herself more than Eve ever has. So, guided by Black studies professor Brother LeRoi, Eve devotes herself to an independent study that lands her in Ideal, surrounded by people who know more about her ancestry than they are willing to share, among them 80-year-old Deuce, who tells her only part of the story of her philandering grandfather. The novel takes an inessential detour into LeRoi’s family’s past, but eventually comes back to the richer stories of Eve, Nelle, and their heritage. Conner weaves plenty of details of African American history throughout, such as the founding of the Tuskegee Institute and Martin Luther King Jr.’s alliance with a Chicago street gang, seamlessly connecting these events to the characters’ lives. Overall, this wonderfully evokes a sense of place, and a palpable curiosity about the past. (July)