Upton Bell Collection at UMass Lowell Libraries: Ladd

This searing first novel is the story of Sarah Stewart, a young black Harvard graduate in the 1960s whose growing interest in Africa--and down a path of self-discovery, love, and the choice between loyalty and truth. This is at once the story of the emerging civil rights movement and the beginning of Afro-centrism. Lyrical. Lyrical, moving, and ultimately uncompromising, Sarah's Psalm is also a powerful story of love and coming of age.

Violet Fields, a black American singer in Paris clubs and music halls, reflects on her life after decades of separation and alienation from her Louisville, Kentucky origins. Inspired by the legend of Josephine Baker, Violet is visited occasionally by the spirit of Josephine. Violet's niece, Hope, arrives from the U.S. and renews Violet's family ties. This gripping story, set in Paris, delves into racial treatment, expatriate experience, social mobility of African Americans, and family reunion dynamics. It is a "deliciously evocative novel...sure to resonate with anyone who cherishes family and treasures Paris."