Southern coming-of-age story next Free Press Book Club read

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This article was published 18/04/2026 (199 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Free Press Book Club and McNally Robinson Booksellers are pleased to welcome Trinidadian-Canadian author and CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter host Antonio Michael Downing to the next virtual meeting on Tuesday, April 28 at 7 p.m. to read from and discuss his critically novel Black Cherokee.

In the opening chapters of Black Cherokee, published in 2025 by Scribner Canada, six-year-old Ophelia Blue Rivers struggles to understand her place. She is half-Black and half-Cherokee, growing up on the banks of the river Etsi in South Carolina in the 1990s.

Raised by her Grandma Blue, who is the former wife of a Cherokee chief and descendent of the Black Cherokee Freedmen, Ophelia’s world is full of conflict; her father isn’t around, her mother is dead, and in her town, a now-disbanded reserve, racism persists, leaving her feeling a true lack of belonging.

Once it is revealed the river in Etsi is essentially polluted to the point of becoming poisonous, Ophelia, now 12 years old, is sent off by Grandma Blue to live with her aunt for a chance at a better life. But this transition, too, is not exempt from conflict; her aunt is an alcoholic and the one “safe space” Ophelia finds is a Black evangelical church community, which turns out not to be so safe after all.

The novel continues to follow Ophelia into her young adulthood, as she attends a prestigious white school as part of a separate program designed by her fancy, French-speaking aunt, Madame Belle, to uplift Black students. While Ophelia’s penchant for math shines and opportunities await, an unexpected pregnancy changes her path — and not necessarily for the worse.

In her review of Black Cherokee for the Free Press, Zilla Jones said “(l)ike his descriptions of music, throughout the novel Downing’s dialogue rolls from the pages with an enticing and natural rhythm, effortlessly encompassing urban slang, ancestral wisdom and religious fervor,” noting that Downing “writes with a compelling and distinctive voice that conveys the pain of dislocation and disinheritance, but also the abiding joy and strength in ancestral ties that cannot be broken.”

Downing will join Free Press audience engagement manager Erin Lebar and Adam Araujo of McNally Robinson to read from Black Cherokee, discuss the book and field questions from viewers and readers.

Copies of Black Cherokee are available to purchase at McNally Robinson Booksellers; there’s no cost to join the book club or virtual discussion. Video of the meeting will be available for replay on the Free Press YouTube channel following the event.