The Blackwoods, Brandy Colbert
The Blackwoods, Brandy Colbert
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

The Blackwoods

Author: Brandy Colbert

Narrator: Alaska Jackson

Unabridged: 11 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Clarion Books

Published: 10/03/2023


Synopsis

From Boston Globe/Horn Book Award–winning author Brandy Colbert comes the story of four generations of a Hollywood family—an unforgettable tale of ambition, fame, struggle, loss, and love in America.The Blackwoods. Everyone knows their name.Blossom Blackwood burst onto the silver screen in 1962, and in the decades that followed, she would become one of the most celebrated actors of our time—and the matriarch of the most famous Black family in Hollywood. To her great-granddaughters, Hollis and Ardith, she has always just been Bebe. And when she passes away, it changes everything.Hollis Blackwood was never interested in fame. Still, she’s surrounded by it, whether at home with her family or at the prestigious Dupree Academy among Los Angeles’ elite. When private photos of Hollis are leaked in the wake of Blossom’s death, she is thrust into the spotlight she’s long avoided—and finds that trust may be a luxury even she can’t afford.Ardith Blackwood has always lived in the public eye. A television star since childhood, she was perhaps closer with Blossom than anyone—especially after Ardith’s mother died in a drug overdose. Ever since, she has worked to be everything her family, her church, and the public want her to be. But as a family secret comes to light and the pressures from all sides begin to mount, she wonders what is left beneath the face she shows the world.Weaving together the narratives of Hollis, Ardith, and Blossom, award-winning author Brandy Colbert tells an unforgettable story set in an America where everything is personal, and nothing is private.  

About Brandy Colbert

Brandy Colbert is the award-winning author of several books for children and teens, including Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, which was the winner of the 2022 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Nonfiction and a finalist for the American Library Association's Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award. Her other acclaimed books include The Blackwoods, Pointe, The Voting Booth, The Only Black Girls in Town, and the Stonewall Book Award winner Little & Lion. A member of the faculty at Hamline University's MFA program in writing for children, Brandy lives in Los Angeles. You can find her online at brandycolbert.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by luce (cry bebè's back from hiatus) on January 01, 2024

this could have been something fun and satirical, in the realms of Curtis Sittenfeld & Kevin Kwan, but it ended up being, tonally and plot-wise, too close to those kinds of teen movies churned out by netflix. the lack of 'solid' bond between the two central characters was very much the biggest letdo......more

Goodreads review by Kyara B. on May 23, 2024

I really enjoyed this book’s exploration of what it’s like to be a black woman in Hollywood. It shows the sacrifices they have to make and how difficult it is for women to chase their dreams while fighting against societal pressures. It was so nice to see the legacy of a black family and the solidar......more

Goodreads review by Phoebe (readandwright) on October 26, 2023

Love love LOVED this book. Perfection. Thank you Balzar + Bray for my copy! All thoughts are my own. I LOVED this book. It was such a surprise! It didn’t read as stereotypical YA (which I love) and i think that people of all ages will enjoy this multigenerational story of a legendary Hollywood family......more

Goodreads review by Kenya on October 25, 2023

Enjoyed the exploration of Black Hollywood and family through the Blackwoods. I really love Blossom and her resiliency even when the odds were attacked against her. I thought the dual timeline and multiple POV kept things interesting but I must say Blossoms sorry kept me reading more than anything e......more

Goodreads review by tre be on November 30, 2023

3.5⭐️ The Blackwoods was about a Black family’s life in the Hollywood spotlight. It started with the family’s matriarch, Blossom, and her entry and rise to hollywood fame in the 1960s and spanned to present day with her granddaughter who did not choose the lifestyle but were thrust into it. The story......more