Stonewall Award-winner Brandy Colbert (Little & Lion; The Only Black Girls in Town) tells the story of two teenage cousins from a prominent Black family who navigate celebrity status while mourning the death of their family's matriarch in The Blackwoods, a glossy yet grounded contemporary YA novel.
Blossom Blackwood always wanted to be an actress and, despite hardships fought and prejudices endured in her decades-long career, she succeeded, becoming one of the most celebrated Black actresses in Hollywood. But to her family--specifically her great-granddaughters, Hollis and Ardith Blackwood--she was simply the beloved Bebe. When Bebe dies at the age of 96, her family is forced to accept a world without her presence. Ardith, who was "the best of friends" with her great-grandmother, hopes to become as popular an actress as Bebe was. Hollis, on the other hand, would much rather remain on the outskirts of her family's public image. Bebe's death, though, reveals a decades-old family secret. The Blackwoods, rocked to their cores by the surprise, begin looking at the matriarch's legacy in a different light.
Colbert beautifully describes the complex lives of three young women through the alternating perspectives of Blossom in 1942, and Ardith and Hollis in the present day. Each has a distinct narrative voice that highlights personality and lovingly tells their stories. Colbert carefully tackles serious themes of race, family, sexual harassment, and addiction, and invites readers into the joyous highs and painful lows of fame and its legacy. --Natasha Harris, freelance reviewer