Description
Book SynopsisFrom the author of Dear Marcus comes a breathtaking novel about a fated love affair that crosses the divides of race and class. Rashid is a young Black man from Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, with a complicated life. Looking for an escape from a neighborhood few ever leave, he finds it in Rachel—married, twenty years his senior, and the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. It begins with a flirtation and a tryst. It becomes an intense romance, exhilarating and enriching, that defies the expectations of Rashid’s friends and family. What draws Rachel to Rashid is his curiosity, his need for intimacy, and his adoration—everything lacking in her crumbling marriage. But as the fault lines of their relationship become more prevalent, so do the inevitable choices one makes when falling in love.
Trade ReviewPraise for Bed Stuy An Amazon Best Book of the Month: Literature & Fiction “McGill’s prose can acquire a quick, musical rhythm before settling into more expansive sections that deftly take on questions of race and class. In many ways, the novel is a wonder to behold.” —Kirkus Reviews “Smart and touching…McGill succeeds in depicting love as a universal force, for better or for worse.” —Publishers Weekly “Love defies all odds in Jerry McGill’s lyrical and heartbreaking novel Bed Stuy.” —POPSUGAR “In Bed Stuy, Jerry McGill crafts a love story that is as gritty as a New York sidewalk and as tender as a first embrace. Two people from different worlds grapple with the challenge of how to bridge their divides—made chasms by race, age, and privilege—to connect, to understand, and to forgive. McGill’s knowing gaze is unflinching but compassionate, conveying in all its complexity the terror of love, the fear and doubt that plague it, and the bone-deep need for more.” —W. S. Winslow, author of The Northern Reach Praise for Dear Marcus: A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me “An unforgettable and intriguing journey…Violence, hope, despair, forgiveness, anger, and living with a disability are explored both lightly and deeply, humorously and profoundly, and always honestly.” —Library Journal (starred review) “An inspirational memoir by a writer who refuses to be defined by his paralysis as he comes to terms with the unknown man who shot him.” —Kirkus Reviews “I couldn’t put it down. This is a compelling marriage of remembrance and forgiveness, absolution and compassion, cynicism and understanding.” —Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore “Written with passion, honesty, humor, and a stubborn, rebellious optimism, Dear Marcus is like nothing I’ve ever read. When a bullet in the back told Jerry McGill not to go on, Jerry went on—smiling.” —Shalom Auslander, author of Hope: A Tragedy
