Black, Black Bird

In the tradition of editor-to-New York Times bestselling authors like Kate White and Greer Hendricks, a haunting gothic historical novel with elements of horror and the uncanny, think: Mexican Gothic meets Sinners in post-Civil War New York, by debut novelist and publishing powerhouse Krishan Trotman.

New York, 1867. When convent girl Brenda Hunt is hired as a nurse at the Colored Orphan Asylum, she believes her life is finally beginning. No longer confined to domestic work, she now assists the brilliant Dr. John Webb, the only Black physician in town, and dares to envision a future shaped by her own ambition. But as kidnappings of Black New Yorkers rise and whispers spread of birds, both real and fantastical, terrorizing the streets, Brenda realizes that peril lurks not only beyond the asylum walls, but within them.

Drawn into Dr. Webb’s ambitious experiments, Brenda finds herself torn between her duty to the orphans, her growing feelings for her employer, and the lure of power and desire. The arrival of Barnes, a sharp-eyed outsider, fractures her certainty even more. As children begin to disappear, Brenda must decide how far she is willing to go and what she is willing to sacrifice to protect those in her care.

For fans of Sinners, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, and Mexican Gothic, Black, Black Bird is a gothic, twisted tale of ambition and desire in an era when Black humanity was put on trial by power and science, and when protecting the most vulnerable came at a harrowing price.