Orlando BIPOC Women's Book Club - May 2025 Book Club

This book club welcomes everyone who identifies as a Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) woman in Orlando, FL. The club focuses on works by authors of color and is a welcoming space for BIPOC women to connect, share perspectives, and foster friendships while celebrating the richness of diverse literary voices.

Please join us for our discussion of this month's book selection:
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?
In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of M**der. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.
Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?
Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.
Book is easily available for purchase or at local libraries for loan.

Book Club is hosted monthly so if you aren't able to make it this month, join us next month!

Host or Publisher Orlando BIPOC Women's Book Club