Krystal Marquis's debut, The Davenports, is the captivating story of four young Black women navigating love and society in early 20th-century Chicago.
The formerly enslaved William Davenport built a successful and worldwide business. Now, in 1910, William is the patriarch of a family that can afford a cushioned life in Chicago's Freeport Manor. William's 19-year-old middle daughter, Olivia, has met the perfect suitor and is ready to fulfill her duties as a loving wife and host of dinner parties. Until, that is, she meets a charming traveling lawyer. Youngest daughter Helen, who would much rather tinker with cars than get married, surprises everyone--herself included--by falling in love with the one man she shouldn't. Olivia's best friend, Ruby, is being pressured by her family to marry the eldest Davenport and heir to the fortune, John, but her heart belongs to another. Amy-Rose, childhood friend-turned-servant to Olivia and Helen, dreams of opening her own business and marrying John herself.
Marquis delivers a stellar, beautifully written and historically accurate YA novel, inspired by the real-life story of C.R. Patterson, that explores the Black Chicago community of the early 1900s. The novel, broken up into chapters from each character's point of view, displays a series of intertwined relationships as the young women navigate gender norms, love, familial expectations, classism, race and the all-too-recent history of slavery. The Davenports is a swoon-worthy novel that offers giddy romance and transports readers to fancy balls while keeping tension high as each story ends on a cliffhanger. --Natasha Harris, freelance reviewer