TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME
From a cloistered 1950s Mississippi town founded by freed slaves to the striking diversity of Paris and Rome in the 1960s and 70s, through Wall Streetβs glittering Roaring 80s to the present day, this sweeping, unforgettably moving novel from the national bestselling author chronicles one southern Black girlβs remarkable journey through some of historyβs most turbulent decadesβand the four men who challenge her to fight for happiness.
Freedom fighter, brilliant businessperson, devoted wife, master of languages, and ultimately, savior of a European dynasty. Claudia Patterson would become all of theseβspurred on by the fiercely powerful loves and losses along the way . . .
Denny Clark. An abused thirteen-year-old white boy whose life twelve-year-old Claudia savesβcomplicating her own life for years to come.
Robert Moore. A young Black lawyer who becomes Claudiaβs beloved husband and partner on the explosive front lines of the Civil Rights Movement. Amid the violence of the Ku Klux Klan, Claudia has a shocking personal encounterβwith unimaginable consequences.
Ashley Booth. A Wall Street executive who brings the glamour of New York alive for the now-widowed Claudia, introducing her to an elite circle of Black peers. But their long yet uncommitted romance leads Claudia to move onβto an overseas assignment at an Italian bank.
Giancarlo Pasquale Fortenza. An Italian automobile industrialist, once enamored of a young Claudiaβhandsome, worldly, and twelve years her senior. A man with whom Claudia reconnects, bringing her life full circle in the boldest, bravest, and most unexpected ways . . .
Rich with history and timeless emotion, here is an epic tale of rising through poverty, racism, and heartbreakβand the awesome role of our most significant relationships throughout our lives.