Title: The Secrets of Newberry
Author: Victor McGlothin
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: June 21, 2010
Hardcover: 384 pages
ISBN: 978-0446178136
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

For Ivory Bones Arcineaux and Julian Bynote, life in 1950s New Orleans couldn’t be sweeter. Friends since they met in an illegal gambling house in Newberry, Louisiana, they have their pick of all the fine women, good food, and hot nights they can handle. They seem to have it made-especially Julian who begins to make a new life for himself after meeting the beautiful, classy Magnolia Garbo at a social. But both men are about to find out that letting the good times roll can be deadly when a simple robbery goes wrong and Julian witnesses Bones murdering a man in cold blood. The victim was a white city councilman with all the right connections-and if the two are discovered, it will mean the end to everything they’ve built together. With the New Orleans police hot on their trail, Julian must decide whether rolling in the fast lane is worth losing his freedom and his life.

My Review:

A raid on an illegal gambling establishment run in the antebellum home, Twin Cedars, brings together the most unlikely of partners, Ivory “Bones” Arcineaux and Hampton Bynote in The Secrets of Newberry by Victor McGlothin. In the segregated south, Bones and Hampton form a rather unique and illegal partnership in 1955 New Orleans. Meanwhile Pearl Lee Baptiste, Hampton’s sister, is explaining to Magnolia the ways of Broussard Parish and the secrets it has held for over a century. The Secrets of Newberry is a unique look at the partnership and friendship between a white man and black man, a bond formed in one evening that continues to grow until a murder occurs. McGlothin offers the reader an extremely detailed look at life in the Jim Crow south as well as offering up exceptional, vivid and realistic characters and a pleasing plot with the right amount of surprises along the way. The Secrets of Newberry spans almost twenty years and is a book that the reader will be hard pressed to put down until the very end is reached, and even after the end, the reader will remember the story and the characters, especially the strong women in the book including Magnolia, Pearl Lee, and Ryletta. I would recommend The Secrets of Newberry without any hesitation and think the book would be a powerful discussion group pick.

About the Author:

Essence bestselling author Victor McGlothin is a former bank vice-president who nearly forfeited an athletic scholarship due to poor reading skills. Ultimately, he overcame that obstacle and later completed a Masters degree in Human Relations & Business. Victor is also an on-line columnist of Victor Said?, a real Brotha to Sistah look at relationship. Victor lives in Dallas with his wife and two sons.

I received a complimentary copy of The Secrets of Newberry by Victor McGlothin from Hachette. Receiving a free copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.