The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Williams, Nikesha Elise

It’s 1995, and fourteen-year-old Tati is determined to uncover the identity of her father. But her mother, Nadia, values her privacy, while her grandmother Gladys remains tight-lipped about the family’s past, including why she left Land’s End, Alabama, in 1953. As Tati digs deeper, she uncovers a legacy of family secrets, where every generation of Dupree women has posed more questions than answers.

From Jubi in 1917, whose attempt to pass as white ends when she gives birth to Ruby; to Ruby’s fiery lust for Sampson in 1934 that leads to a baby of her own; to the night in 1980 that changed Nadia’s future forever, the Dupree women carry the weight of their matrilineal heritage. Bound by a mysterious malediction that means they will only give birth to daughters, the Dupree women confront a legacy of pain, resilience, and survival that began with an enslaved ancestor who risked everything for freedom.

Echoing the literary power of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis, Nikesha Elise Williams delivers a “haunting, heartbreaking, and utterly unforgettable” (Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies) family saga that explores the ripple effects of actions, secrets, and love. The incredible Dupree women—Tati, Nadia, Gladys, Jubi, Emma, and Evangeline—will stay with readers long after the final page.