The year is 1862, and the Civil War rages through the South. On a Virginia tobacco plantation, another kind of battle soon begins. There, Cassius Howard, a skilled carpenter and slave, risks everything -- punishment, sale to a cotton plantation, even his life -- to learn the truth concerning the murder of Emoline, a freed black woman, a woman who secretly taught him to read and once saved his life. It is clear that no one cares about her death in the midst of a brutal and hellish war. No one but Cassius, who braves horrific dangers to escape the plantation and avenge her loss. As Cassius seeks answers about Emoline's murder, he finds an unexpected friend and ally in Quashee, a new woman brought over from another plantation; and a formidable adversary in Hoke Howard, the master he has always obeyed. With subtlety and beauty, Sweetsmoke captures the daily indignities and harrowing losses suffered by slaves, the turmoil of a country waging countless wars within its own borders, and the lives of those people fighting for identity, for salvation, and for freedom.

Jack may have lost in love, but as Jill he might just have a shot at new love in the desert… When Jack’s girlfriend Aimee ends their two-year relationship because he isn’t strong or manly enough for her in her eyes, it’s a devastating blow to his self-esteem. Instead of wallowing in his sadness, he picks himself up and catches a flight to sunny Palm Springs, where he hopes some desert hiking might clear his mind, help him heal, and toughen him up. But Jack gets more than he bargained for from his trip: He takes a nap in a strange cave on a trail and wakes up disoriented and in the body of a woman, with a beautiful paramedic, Lisa, fussing over his (now her) health. Confused and scared, he gives his name as Jill and accepts her invitation to come home with her until he knows what’s going on. Jack soon discovers that Lisa is into women, and in his new body as Jill he’s exactly her type… the two of them are irresistibly drawn to one another, and once Lisa shows Jill everything she and her sexy little desert town have to offer, Jill might be faced with the most difficult decision of her life: Does she even want to go back to being Jack?

"This Great Hemisphere is an inventive and immersive epic that follows its brave invisible protagonist as she navigates a futuristic new world that often mirrors our own. A thrilling page-turner." —Brit Bennett, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Half From the award-winning and bestselling author of Black Buck: A speculative novel about a young woman—invisible by birth and relegated to second-class citizenship—who sets off on a mission to find her older brother, whom she had presumed dead but who is now the primary suspect in a high-profile political murder. Despite the odds, Sweetmint, a young invisible woman, has done everything right her entire life—school, university, and now a highly sought-after apprenticeship with the Northwestern Hemisphere’s premier inventor, a non-invisible man belonging to the Dominant Population who is as eccentric as he is enigmatic. But the world she has fought so hard to build after the disappearance of her older brother comes crashing down when authorities claim that not only is he well and alive, he’s also the main suspect in the murder of the Chief Executive of the Northwestern Hemisphere. A manhunt ensues, and Sweetmint, armed with courage, intellect, and unwavering love for her brother, sets off on a mission to find him before it’s too late. With five days until the hemisphere’s big election, Sweetmint must dodge a relentless law officer who’s determined to maintain order and an ambitious politician with sights set on becoming the next Chief Executive by any means necessary. With the captivating worldbuilding of N. K. Jemisin’s novels and blazing defiance of Naomi Alderman’s work, This Great Hemisphere is a novel that brilliantly illustrates the degree to which reality can be shaped by non-truths and vicious manipulations, while shining a light on our ability to surprise ourselves when we stop giving in to the narratives others have written for us.

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