Sweetbitter: A Novel

Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award

“Reginald Gibbons’s first novel takes place in east Texas in 1910 during the time of white rule—not by law but by lynch mob. Amid the suffocating racism and fear, half-Choctaw, half-white Reuben Sweetbitter and Martha Clarke, a white woman, fall in love. . . . Reuben and Martha’s love is strong, but, dishearteningly, racism is stronger. Timely in the subject of interracial love, this authentic, richly -detailed novel plumbs sacrifice, fear, and the loss of one’s identity, bringing the -anguish of the two young lovers to life. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal

“Far more than a spellbinding love story . . . a novel wide and deep in its understanding. . . . An unforgettable story, a remarkable piece of work.”—Dallas Morning News

“I love this novel: it sings, it soars. Simultaneously deft and deep, it brings a lost world back to brilliant light.”—Andrea Barrett

“Surprising in every way. . . . The novel’s ending is as strong as its beginning—terrifying and beautiful, a true tour de force.”—Chicago Tribune