Mary Monroe

Mary Monroe

African American Literature Book Club - The #1 Site for "Readers of Black Literature"

Home • Back • Author Home • Up • Next • Author Profiles • Book Profiles • Writer's Resources • Reviews • Events • About Us • Buy Any Book • Advertise

Mary Monroe & author Victor McGlothin

Mary Monroe, the daughter of Alabama sharecroppers and the first of her family to graduate high school, had been absent from the literary scene for more than a decade. Then her novel, God Don’t Like Ugly was published by Dafina Books in the fall of 2000 placing Mary Monroe firmly back on readers’ shelves. God Don’t Like Ugly was honored with the PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Award, went on to sell more than 250,000 copies, and remains among the most requested of Dafina Books titles. She has published five novels in the interim, including God Still Don’t Like Ugly, and last year’s New York Times bestselling novel, God Don’t Play. Now, readers anxious for more are once again rewarded with the highly-anticipated Deliver Me from Evil just published [Aug. 2007] in hardcover. Mary will be visiting bookstores and libraries across the country this September in support of her new novel.

It’s hard to resist Mary Monroe once you’ve met her or read her work. She’s a very special lady, whose somewhat autobiographical fiction is filled with the unexpected and with larger-than-life, thought-provoking protagonists. Mary’s own story is pretty amazing as well. Starting life as a sharecropper’s daughter who would get a “whupping” for having her nose stuck in a book, the road she’s traveled has been a difficult one filled with unforgettable people who have inspired her characters.

She Had It Coming
Click to order via Amazon

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Dafina (September 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758212194

New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe delivers a powerful and provocative new novel about one woman’s search for love in a world where secrets don’t always stay hidden, friends don’t always have our backs, and the choices we make in one rash moment can change everything…

If there’s one thing Dolores Reese knows, it’s how to keep a secret. It’s a skill she learned early in life, watching her best friend Valerie Proctor do whatever it took to protect her family from her violent stepfather. Back then, Dolores was in foster care—just like Floyd Watson, a local boy who intrigues Dolores from the moment they meet. Even in high school, Dolores knows with certainty that she and Floyd are soul mates. When one bad decision sends an innocent Floyd to prison for life, Dolores pays clandestine visits and—out of a mix of love and pity—promises to stick by him.

While Floyd’s world stands still, Dolores’s horizons open up in exciting new ways when she lands a position working for a cruise line. There, she meets Paul Dunne, an accomplished businessman who promises her the kind of future she’s always wanted—the kind she once imagined having with Floyd. Dolores is sure she can continue to visit Floyd without revealing that she’s now married to another man. But when Floyd is suddenly freed on new evidence, Dolores is torn and makes a fateful decision—to live a double lie, devoting herself to two different husbands in two different cities.

With Valerie as her confidante and accomplice, Dolores hopes to pull off the ultimate deception. But into this risky situation comes another man, one Dolores can’t resist. And if she isn’t careful, Dolores just might find out what happens when love, dishonesty, and dangerous jealousy collide…

Deliver Me From Evil
Click to order via Amazon

Pub Date : August 28, 2007
Imprint : Dafina
Format : Hardcover
0758212178

Read an AALBC.com Review

The New York Times bestselling author of God Don’t Like Ugly and God Still Don’t Like Ugly, Mary Monroe has been hailed as “a real talent” (San Jose Mercury News) and as one of today’s most provocative storytellers. In her sensational new novel, a beautiful, resourceful woman is caught in a high-stakes game of money, sex and betrayal—all in the name of a better future…

Once upon a time, Christine Thurman had the perfect marriage. A girl from the wrong side of the tracks, she made good by marrying Jesse Ray Thurman and helping him build a business worth millions. Together, they were the perfect couple—attractive, successful, and deeply in love. Christine was convinced she’d spend the rest of her life by her handsome husband’s side.

But twelve years later, J.R. has become obsessed with building his video store empire and is taking his wife for granted. Feeling trapped and alone in a dead-end marriage, Christine finds herself tempted by her old haunts and the people she thought she left behind long ago. Suddenly, without J.R. even realizing it, their seemingly unshakeable bond has started fraying at the seams—and Christine will do anything to break free.

Enter Wade Eddie Fisher, a bad boy with good looks from Christine’s past. Wade left their hometown long ago to follow his Hollywood dreams, but now he’s back, penniless, and as tempting as ever. Even though Wade is far from dependable, he offers Christine something she can’t seem to resist. Soon she’s immersed in a sultry affair, and before she knows it, she’s concocted a scheme so risky that it promises to deliver everything she could possibly want—or shatter the lives of everyone close to her…

God Don't Play
Click to order via Amazon

0-7582-0346-2
Author: Mary Monroe
Pub Date : August 29, 2006
Imprint : Dafina
Format : Hardcover

With a handsome husband, a beautiful daughter, and a lovely house to come home to every night, it looks like forty-five-year-old Annette Goode finally has it all. And heaven knows she paid her dues to get it—from a childhood filled with abuse to a rocky start as an adult. Annette’s friend Rhoda knows too, for Rhoda has been both her savior and her greatest fear. Their erratic relationship has survived some serious bumps in the road, and now things are good. But apparently someone thinks Annette has it a little too good…

When Annette receives an anonymous—and menacing—birthday gift, it is just the beginning of a slew of hostile letters, vicious phone calls, and vile packages from a female who is obviously disguising her voice. Soon nasty notes about Annette are also being circulated throughout her community. But despite the onslaught, Annette has no clue who the harasser is, or what is behind her contempt.

Gaining comfort from the support of Rhoda and Rhoda’s teenage daughter, Jade, Annette hopes that somehow the problem will just go away. But when the threats extend to her little daughter, Annette realizes the situation is dire. And she’s right, for soon her tormentor reveals exactly what she wants—and claims to have been playing a role in Annette’s life all along. To make matters worse, she provides evidence that may destroy everything Annette has built…

Just as Annette reaches the brink of what she can bear, her mysterious enemy challenges her to a face-to-face showdown. It is a meeting that will not only shock Annette, but will forever change the lives of those closest to her…

Borrow Trouble
Click to order via Amazon

Mary Monroe And Victor McGlothin

ISBN: 0758212232
Pub. Date: December 28, 2006
Format: Hardcover, 320pp
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation

Two gripping tales of loss and redemption by two of the most gifted, elegant voices in African-American fiction.

“Nightmare in Paradise” by Mary Monroe
Good-looking and as dutiful a wife as she is a devoted friend, reserved and respectful Renee Webb always does the right thing. So when she gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to let her hair down on a Caribbean vacation with her uninhibited friend Inez, Renee is more than ready to let go. But the sun-splashed isle of Paraiso is not what it seems, and Renee finds out that doing the wrong thing—a sizzling night of pleasure with a sexy stranger—might cost her more than she ever imagined…

“Bad Luck Shadow” by Victor McGlothin
Bad luck’s been shadowing handsome Baltimore Floyd ever since he hopped a train out of New York City. On the run from some of Harlem’s baddest hitmen, Baltimore’s luck takes a turn for the worse after he murders a big-time white businessman and gets thrown off the train in Kansas City. Alone and on the lam, Baltimore’s got only one shot to get out alive—the biggest heist in KC’s history. Lucky for him, Henry Taylor’s got his back, and he’ll have to use every trick he knows to save Baltimore from going down for good…

Mary Monroe is the national bestselling author of God Don’t Like Ugly, God Still Don’t Like Ugly, God Don’t Play, The Upper Room, Gonna Lay Down My Burdens, Red Light Wives and In Sheep’s Clothing. An avid traveler, Mary currently lives in Oakland, California. She loves hearing from her readers via e-mail at AuthorAuthor5409@aol.com.

Essence® bestselling author Victor McGlothin is the author of Down On My Knees, Autumn Leaves, Every Sister Wants It, and What’s A Woman To Do. Living in Dallas with his wife and two sons, he is hard at work on his next novel and as a contributing editor of D Magazine. Please visit Victor’s website www.victormcglothin.com.

A woman lets herself go and finally does something wrong. Down on his luck, a man tries to do something right. For both, the consequences are as surprising as they are rewarding in two tales of lost souls by two rising stars in contemporary African-American fiction.

In Sheep's Clothing
Click to order via Amazon

0-7582-0345-4
Author: Mary Monroe
Pub Date : July 25, 2006
Imprint : Dafina
Format : Trade Paperback

A restless young woman thinks she’s found a free ride to happiness and adventure. But it’s a trip that may land her in prison—or worse…

When twenty-eight-year-old Trudy Bell lands a secretarial position at a travel agency, she feels like a new woman. And her warm, friendly personality soon wins her the adoration of her colleagues—with one exception. Ann Oliver, the only other African American employee, is a high-level manager who despises the low-income black experience Trudy represents. But no one is going to ruin Trudy’s new life. In fact, she’s found a way to make it even better. As the secretary who processes the agency’s bills, Trudy has easy access to company credit cards. Including Ann’s.

At first, Trudy’s deception involves a few high-priced lunches, but it soon expands to include weekend “business trips” to exotic locations. Before long she’s leading a double-life—Ann’s life—complete with a secret apartment where she entertains the men she meets at upscale bars. But their worlds collide the night Trudy brings home the wrong man—one who has an angry score to settle. With Ann. Now, unless Trudy can convince him she’s not the woman he’s after, she may pay the highest price of all…

God Don't like Ugly
Order via Amazon

Format: Paperback, 352pp.
ISBN: 1575666073
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Pub. Date: October 2000

Read an AALBC.com Review

In her richly drawn debut novel, Mary Monroe brings to life the bond between two girls from opposite sides of the track—and the shattering event that changes their lives forever.
At the heart of the story is Annette Goode, a shy, awkward, overweight child who keeps a terrible secret. Mr. Boatwright, the boarder her hardworking mother has taken in, abuses her daily. Frightened and ashamed, Annette withdraws into a world of books and food.

But the summer Annette turns thirteen, something incredible happens: Rhoda Nelson chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, generous Rhoda, who is everything Annette is not—gorgeous, slim, and worldly—welcomes Annette into the heart of her eccentric family, which includes her handsome and dignified father; her lovely, fragile, “Muh'Dear;” her brooding, dangerous brother Jock; and her colorful white relatives—half-crazy Uncle Johnny, sultry Aunt Lola, and scary, surly Granny Goose.

With Rhoda's help, Annette survives adolescence and blossoms as a woman. But when her beautiful best friend makes a stunning confession about a horrific childhood crime, Annette's world will never be the same.

Set on the streets, porches and parlors of 1960s and 1970 Ohio, God Don't Like Ugly sparkles with clear-eyed wit and uncompromising honesty. Readers will find this remarkable new novel full of laughter, inspiration, and pure enjoyment.

God Still Don't Like Ugly
Click to order via Amazon

0-7582-0343-8
Author: Mary Monroe
Pub Date : Aug-04
Imprint : Dafina
Format : Trade Paperback

Growing up, Annette Goode thought all men were as low-down as the father who abandoned her. There was Mr. Boatwright, the boarder who abused her for years—until her best friend Rhoda murdered him. And what about the men she slept with to earn the money she needed to run away from her life? None of them was exactly the picture of chivalry. But now, after decades of soul searching and heartache, Annette has reunited with the father she never really knew. She’s severed all ties with the dangerously unstable Rhoda. And finally her real life has started to take shape. Or so she thinks…

Things start to fall apart at—of all places—Annette’s own pre-wedding celebration, where a guest reveals that the beautiful bride-to-be once turned tricks for a living. When her fiancé pulls a disappearing act, Annette reunites with Pee Wee Davis—the man who has been her on-again, off-again sweetheart since childhood. It’s not a great life, but it’s a pretty good one.

Yet Annette still holds the secret of her ex-friend Rhoda’s murderous past deep in her heart. She knows it’s a burden that will torment her until she can put it to rest. So when Rhoda suddenly walks back into her life, Annette must decide what she should believe—and what she can forgive—as she tries to salvage the one relationship that she just can’t seem to let go…

The Upper Room
Click to order via Amazon

Format: Paperback, 32pp.
ISBN: 0758200234
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Pub. Date: July 2002

Read AALBC.com Review

Mama Ruby’s known for taking things that aren’t rightfully hers, like her best friend’s stillborn infant, who she brought back to life and christened Maureen. She’s also rumored to have done away with her husband. Some fear her, others try their best to avoid her. But Mama Ruby doesn’t pay them any mind. Not when she’s got the one gift God gave her—her precious baby girl.

But growing up with a mama like Ruby is enough to make any half-sane girl wish for something—anything—else. And when Maureen gets the chance to explore the “real” world, you can bet she’s going to take it…and run like hell.

Red Light Wives
Click to order via Amazon

0758200021
Author: Mary Monroe
Pub Date : Aug-05
Imprint : Dafina
Format : Trade Paperback

From the bestselling author of the acclaimed God Don’t Like Ugly comes a powerful and passionate novel about the hopes, dreams, laughter—and limits—of six unique women surviving on the streets of San Francisco...
They’re about as different as six women can be—haughty and humble, beautiful and plain, young and not-so-young, black, white, Latina, and origins unknown. But aside from a gift for laughing hardship in the face, they have one very important thing in common—Clyde Brooks. You might say that Clyde is their “manager.” And you might say that Lula Mae, Ester, Megan, Rosalee, Helen, and Rockelle are colleagues—in the world’s oldest profession. Clyde likes to refer to them as his “wives.” After all, they do what wives are expected to do—take care of him and watch over his beloved young daughter, Keisha.

Maybe it’s their love for the high life—and for each other—that makes the bond between Clyde’s ladies so unbreakable. Maybe it’s their private demons that invite him to act as their savior and tyrant, father, brother, and lover. And maybe it’s middle-class Helen’s naïve vulnerability, privileged Megan’s shocking secret, strong, smart Lula Mae’s maternal nature, and wild-child Ester’s anger at the rest of the world that keep them so loyal—or so Clyde thinks. For hard as they try to distract themselves, nothing can quell the women’s longing for a life free from Clyde and what he represents—until one daring act of defiance changes everything…

Gonna Lay Down My Burdens
Click to order via Amazon

Format: Hardcover, 288pp.
ISBN: 1575669110
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Pub. Date: August 2002

Read An AALBC.com Review

In the sweltering little town of Belle Helene, Alabama, Carmen Taylor keeps her weaknesses, her frustrations, and her sorrows to herself. She’s too busy dealing with the dramas of troubled friends like Desiree Lucienne, the petite, pampered daughter of a doctor who tries to beat the wildness out of her. But that doesn’t stop Desiree from trawling for men, and trying to drag Carmen along.

It’s not that Carmen hasn’t had her share of boozy pick-ups—only that they can’t compare to the one steamy night she spent with the man she’s loved since they were both kids. Now a local cop, all-too-fine Chester Sheffield keeps showing up in Carmen’s life, wanting to do something about the feelings they obviously share. But that would mean abandoning her “boyfriend” Burl Tupper, and that’s something Carmen just can’t do. Ever since a foolish teenage prank of Carmen’s landed Burl in a wheelchair, she’s been trying to make it up to him. When Carmen doesn’t take her chance with Chester, Desiree does. And although the women’s friendship stays solid, greater challenges await.

On a sultry, reckless moonlit night, Carmen commits a desperate crime of passion, and, with Desiree, hits the road running. But she can’t run from the truth. Now she has two choices—a life on the lam, or a return to Belle Helene, the place where it all began…and the only place Carmen can lay down her burdens and seize her one true chance at love and redemption.