One Blood

Virginia, 1965. It is at her grandmother's knee that Grace learns the power of the blood. The blood that flows in all and connects all life. A respected midwife, rich in wisdom and lore, Maw Maw is Grace's whole world. But everything changes the night her grandmother delivers a white woman's Black baby and Maw Maw is the one to pay the price. When Grace is sent up North to live with her only living relative, her Aunt Hattie--a formidably ambitious woman who has firmly left behind her Southern roots in pursuit of upward mobility--Grace finds she is an outsider in what feels like a strange new land. It is only when she meets Dale, a beautiful boy with the heart of a warrior poet, that Grace begins to feel that she belongs. When they fall in love, Grace knows that their future together is bright.

However, when their relationship is discovered by Dale's equally ambitious mother, Dale is shipped off to college in the South and, soon after, Grace discovers she is pregnant...and alone. Worse is when her Aunt Hattie discovers her pregnancy. In an ultimate act of self-preservation, cruelty and perhaps even love, Hattie betrays Grace by giving her daughter up for adoption, setting in motion the fates of three generations of three very different women: a birth mother who had her child taken away; the adoptive mother who raised that child; and the child who is the literal product of the two.

Stretching from the American South during the Great Migration to New York during the Civil Rights Movement and the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment, to Brooklyn and women's march toward work/life balance in the '90s and early 2000s, Denene Millner's beautifully devastating novel explores these three women's intimate struggle with their own histories, with truth and healing, with being mothers, with being women, with knowing who they really are, and, ultimately, with understanding the power of nature, nurture and the love that binds them.

A searing, emotional novel about three generations of Black women tied together by blood, love, and family secrets surrounding the tragic loss and then adoption of one precious little girl.
Virginia, 1965. It is at her grandmother's knee that Grace learns the power of the blood. The blood that flows in all and connects all life. A respected midwife, rich in wisdom and lore, Maw Maw is Grace's whole world. But everything changes the night her grandmother delivers a white woman's Black baby and Maw Maw is the one to pay the price. When Grace is sent up North to live with her only living relative, her Aunt Hattie--a formidably ambitious woman who has firmly left behind her Southern roots in pursuit of upward mobility--Grace finds she is an outsider in what feels like a strange new land. It is only when she meets Dale, a beautiful boy with the heart of a warrior poet, that Grace begins to feel that she belongs. When they fall in love, Grace knows that their future together is bright.

However, when their relationship is discovered by Dale's equally ambitious mother, Dale is shipped off to college in the South and, soon after, Grace discovers she is pregnant...and alone. Worse is when her Aunt Hattie discovers her pregnancy. In an ultimate act of self-preservation, cruelty and perhaps even love, Hattie betrays Grace by giving her daughter up for adoption, setting in motion the fates of three generations of three very different women: a birth mother who had her child taken away; the adoptive mother who raised that child; and the child who is the literal product of the two.

Stretching from the American South during the Great Migration to New York during the Civil Rights Movement and the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment, to Brooklyn and women's march toward work/life balance in the '90s and early 2000s, Denene Millner's beautifully devastating novel explores these three women's intimate struggle with their own histories, with truth and healing, with being mothers, with being women, with knowing who they really are, and, ultimately, with understanding the power of nature, nurture and the love that binds them.

Homegoing meets The Mothers where three women are tied together by blood love and family secrets in this searing novel by New York Times bestseller Denene Millner
Virginia, 1965. It is at her grandmother's knee that Grace learns the power of the blood. The blood that flows in all and connects all life. A respected midwife, rich in wisdom and lore, Maw Maw is Grace's whole world. But everything changes the night her grandmother delivers a white woman's Black baby and Maw Maw is the one to pay the price. When Grace is sent up North to live with her only living relative, her Aunt Hattie--a formidably ambitious woman who has firmly left behind her Southern roots in pursuit of upward mobility--Grace finds she is an outsider in what feels like a strange new land. It is only when she meets Dale, a beautiful boy with the heart of a warrior poet, that Grace begins to feel that she belongs. When they fall in love, Grace knows that their future together is bright.

However, when their relationship is discovered by Dale's equally ambitious mother, Dale is shipped off to college in the South and, soon after, Grace discovers she is pregnant...and alone. Worse is when her Aunt Hattie discovers her pregnancy. In an ultimate act of self-preservation, cruelty and perhaps even love, Hattie betrays Grace by giving her daughter up for adoption, setting in motion the fates of three generations of three very different women: a birth mother who had her child taken away; the adoptive mother who raised that child; and the child who is the literal product of the two.

Stretching from the American South during the Great Migration to New York during the Civil Rights Movement and the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment, to Brooklyn and women's march toward work/life balance in the '90s and early 2000s, Denene Millner's beautifully devastating novel explores these three women's intimate struggle with their own histories, with truth and healing, with being mothers, with being women, with knowing who they really are, and, ultimately, with understanding the power of nature, nurture and the love that binds them.

Homegoing meets The Mothers where three women are tied together by blood, love, and family secrets in this searing novel by New York Times bestseller Denene Millner

Raised by her beloved grandmother in tension-filled, post-segregation Virginia, Grace is barely a teenager when she loses her Maw Maw. Shellshocked, she is shipped up North to her live with her formidably ambitious Aunt Hattie--a woman who firmly left behind her "undesirable" Southern roots in pursuit of upward mobility. Thrust into the world of the Black and socially ambitious, Grace finds herself trapped in a society of stifling respectability, fancy teas, and coveted debutante balls. Feeling like a fish out of water, Grace's only place of sweet comfort is with the smart, handsome son of one of the society's grand dames. However, when Grace ends up pregnant, she is quickly hidden away and he is promptly shipped off to the Army. Then in the ultimate act of betrayal, Grace is deceived by Hattie and her brand new baby girl is given up for adoption.

Beautiful, intelligent and fierce, Delores a.k.a. Lolo has never had it easy. Her life has been riddled with pain and loss. Even still her brightest dream is to be married and to have a family of her own. And she will tell lies and keep secrets to obtain it. Then Lolo does have it all: a doting husband, a beautiful son and daughter, and a lovely home. When secrets start to spill out and she and her family slowly begin to unravel, Lolo is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her dream intact and those she loves together.

When Lolo's headstrong daughter, Rae discovers that she is adopted, it is just one secret among others that her family is keeping. Not out of a desire to deceive, but out of a determination to survive and protect. When Rae finds out that she is about to become a mother herself, she knows that there is an important reckoning that must be faced about herself and her two mothers.

Potent, poetic, powerful, told with deep love, and spanning from the Great Migration to the civil unrest of the early 2000s, Denene Millner's beautifully wrought novel explores three women's intimate struggle with generational trauma and healing,

"In delicious, decadent prose, Denene Millner does what few authors can-compose a sprawling multigenerational tale that is necessary American reading. One Blood sings the song of the South in a voice that is heartbreaking, hopeful, and resilient. A masterpiece."
-Tara M. Stringfellow, National Bestselling author of Memphis

Join New York Times bestselling author Denene Millner as she unravels three generations of women tied together by blood, love, and family secrets in this searing novel.

Meet Grace: raised by her beloved grandmother in tension-filled, post-segregation Virginia, Grace is barely a teenager when she loses her grandmother. Shellshocked, she is shipped up North to live with her formidably ambitious Aunt Hattie―a woman who firmly left behind her Southern roots in pursuit of upward mobility. Feeling like a fish out of water in the high society world filled with fancy teas and coveted debutante balls, Grace's only place of comfort is with the smart, handsome son of one of the society's grand dames.

Meet Delores: beautiful, intelligent and fierce, Delores a.k.a. Lolo has never had it easy. Once she makes it north, she puts aside her dream of being a model to do what she has to do to survive as a woman with little money and no mooring: get married and have a family of her own. When secrets start to spill out and she and her family slowly begin to unravel, Lolo is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her dream intact and those she loves together.

Meet Rae: when Lolo's headstrong daughter, Rae discovers that she is adopted, it's just one secret among others that her family is keeping. When Rae finds out that she's about to become a mother herself, she knows that there is an important reckoning that must be faced about herself and her two mothers.

Potent, poetic, powerful, told with deep love, and spanning from the Great Migration to the civil unrest of the 1960s to the quest for women's equality in early 2000s, Denene Millner's beautifully wrought novel explores three women's intimate struggle with generational trauma and healing.