Description
Singer-songwriter and filmmaker Be Steadwell’s lyrical debut is Practical Magic meets Black Cake in this warm and wry family drama with a magical twist about three sisters, a vision of princes, true love, and revolution, and one very complicated year of self-realization, family dynamics, and learning to let go.
The Jones sisters have powers.
Jasmine is a queer, heartbroken baker who crafts beautiful pastries that no one in DC wants to buy. Her sister Ella is a fat and fine bodyworker, begrudgingly serving rich white folk. And Layla, the youngest, is an ambitious affordable housing activist in the rapidly gentrifying district. The sisters are all conjurers, but they aren’t yet sure how to use their magic— and they’re not sure the world deserves it.
When their mother reveals her vision of princes, true love, and revolution, the jaded sisters meet her with skepticism. But after a chance encounter with the filthy rich Black developer Malcolm Scott and his two princely children, their mother’s prophecy begins to unfold.
This romantic debut novel explores class privilege while placing Black love, queer sex, and joy at its center.
“Because Black queer feminist possibility is my deepest desire, because our total freedom is my most motivating fantasy, I’m grateful that Be Steadwell has created a romance that happens here, on the edge of our transformation. If your erotic daydreams resonate most with a world blessed by generational healing, honoring all our ancestors, justice, equity, and an anti-capitalist impulse to “risk it all,” for love, this book is for you too!” —Alexis Pauline Gumbs, author of Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde
“I am so happy about this extension of Be’s sonic storytelling to the page. Be’s queer love songs always leave you wanting more in the best way and now we have it in the form of a wonderful book full of mystery, sensuality, love, and family.” —Toshi Reagon, musician, composer, curator, producer, and activist
