Daughter of the Merciful Deep by Leslye Penelope (Paperback)

Fiction - Fantasy - Historical 

RELEASE DATE: 6/4/2024 (WILL SHIP DIRECTLY FROM OUR SUPPLIER'S WAREHOUSE)

A woman journeys into a submerged world of gods and myth to save her home in this powerful historical fantasy that shines a light on the drowned Black towns of the American South. 

“Our home began, as all things do, with a wish.”

Jane Edwards hasn’t spoken since she was eleven years old, when armed riders expelled her family from their hometown along with every other Black resident. Now, twelve years later, she’s found a haven in the all-Black town of Awenasa. But the construction of a dam promises to wash her home under the waters of the new lake.

Jane will do anything to save the community that sheltered her. So, when a man with uncanny abilities arrives in town asking strange questions, she wonders if he might be the key. But as the stranger hints at gods and ancestral magic, Jane is captivated by a bigger mystery. She knows this man. Only the last time she saw him, he was dead. His body laid to rest in a rushing river. 

Who is the stranger and what is he really doing in Awenasa? To find those answers, Jane will journey into a sunken world, a land of capricious gods and unsung myths, of salvation and dreams made real. But the flood waters are rising. To gain the miracle she desires, Jane will have to find her voice again and finally face the trauma of the past. 

For more from Leslye Penelope, check out The Monsters We Defy.

AUTHOR BIO: 
Leslye Penelope has been writing since she could hold a pen and loves getting lost in the worlds in her head. She is an award-winning author of fantasy and paranormal romance. Equally left and right-brained, she studied filmmaking and computer science at Howard University and sometimes dreams in HTML. She hosts the My Imaginary Friends podcast and lives in Maryland with her husband and furry dependents.

" Daughter of the Merciful Deep skillfully weaves the mythology of the age-old gods, with all their feuds and foibles, through this poignant and mystical story. It will leave you filled both with the hope of all that can be when one is reminded of the magic found in family and community, and the unimaginable power of generational memory and the thread that binds us to the ancestors."-- Rita Woods, Hurston/Wright Legacy Award-winning author of Remembrance

"Daughter of the Merciful Deepis a mesmerizing tale that deftly blends history and magic. It's a thoughtful, timely, and immensely compelling read. Readers will find much to admire and marvel at from the first page to the very last!" --Nicole Glover, author of The Conductors