2023 American BookFest - Best Book Award
FINALIST - African American Fiction
 
SURVIVING MERCY VALLEY:  Moving From Trauma to Triumph
 
In the 1940s, America had many areas across the country that were self-sustaining for black folks, known as Negroes. They left the South to avoid discrimination and escape the Jim Crow movement. There was one such place in a midwestern city known as Mercy Valley. Mercy Valley had a myriad of businesses and entertainment establishments that brought in Negro celebrities to perform. Valley residents were diverse- successful business owners who spoke standard English and lived with wealth along with poorer residents who struggled economically and spoke broken English with a southern dialect. Still, despite the resident’s circumstances, there was a strong sense of community where belonging and support was everyone’s answer to surviving and sometimes even thriving. 
 
While Mercy Valley residents, like Sadie and Francis, had to contend with unexpected losses, others like Etta, her daughter, Gwen, and the LeBeau’s had to move beyond their circumstances to create new ways of living. Velma and Brady had to figure out how to protect themselves from violence. The first from the love of her life and the latter from a situation he initiated. Patricia and Ruth both kept their focus on their reputation, one as a privileged community member and the other as a Christian. Finally, Billy, a teenage shoeshine boy and family breadwinner, has learned to do whatever is needed to provide food and shelter for his small family. He fortunately finds an advocate whose kindness and caring becomes his saving grace.