Home and Away

Spanning more than eighty years, from Memphis in the 1930s and 1940s to present-day Chicago, this sweeping novel draws on the turbulent history of the Negro Baseball Leagues, as the great-granddaughter of a former player sets out to tell her family's story--and redefine her own.

Harper Fleming is done with being passed over. As a journalist for a Chicago newspaper, she's been refused a shot at the sportswriter position she longs for. And her on again/off again relationship is going nowhere. Leaving both behind, she heads to Nashville, Tennessee, where she plans to interview her widowed grandfather, Bernard Fleming, for a book about his father Kelton Fleming's time in the Negro Baseball Leagues.

When Bernard reveals health issues within days of her arrival, Harper assumes responsibility for taking care of him. And when she mentions his father playing baseball in the Negro Leagues, Bernard gives her a trove of letters, journals, and clippings encompassing Kelton's career. But some stories are too personal to print without dishonoring the memory of her great-grandmother. Instead, with Bernard's approval, Harper begins weaving them into a novel, telling her great-grandfather's story through the eyes of the fictional Moses Gillian.

Chapters flow effortlessly as Harper breathes life into each memory. Particularly intense are Kelton's recollections of the Green Book, an annual guidebook that helped African Americans navigate the segregated South. Negro League teams relied on it as they traveled between games, hurrying out of unwelcoming towns before sundown to avoid the Klan.

As Harper delves into Kelton's past, a piece of her own resurfaces in the form of Cheney, the childhood friend of her brothers'. And as Harper honors her great-grandfather's life, she finds the inspiration to take her own in a bold new direction . . .

Author: Rochelle Alers
Publisher: Dafina Books
Published: 12/24/2024
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.50w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9781496742742


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 12/01/2024 pg. 116

About the Author
Rochelle Alers is the bestselling author of more than eighty novels with nearly two million copies in print. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Golden Pen Award, Emma Award, Vivian Stephens Award for Excellence in Romance Writing, and the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award. A member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Iota Theta Zeta chapter, she lives in a charming hamlet on Long Island, NY. Visit her online at RochelleAlers.org.