Sarai Johnson Discusses Grown Women with Lauren Francis-Sharma

MahoganyBooks is thrilled to host local author Sarai Johnson as we celebrate the debut of her first novel Grown Women! Join us for an exciting evening discussing a multi-generational story about complex black women and how they redefine healing and happiness. Sarai will be joined in conversation with author Lauren Francis-Sharma. Grab ya girlfriends, aunties, mommas, & grandmamas for an evening of celebrating dynamic Black women!

About the book: Grown Women

In this stunning debut novel, four generations of complex Black women contend with motherhood and daughterhood, generational trauma and the deeply ingrained tensions and wounds that divide them as they redefine happiness and healing for themselves.

Erudite Evelyn, her cynical daughter Charlotte, and Charlotte’s optimistic daughter Corinna see the world very differently. Though they love each other deeply, it’s no wonder that their personalities often clash. But their conflicts go deeper than run-of-the-mill disagreements. Here, there is deep, dark resentment for past and present hurt.

When Corinna gives birth to her own daughter, Camille, the beautiful, intelligent little girl offers this trio of mothers something they all need: hope, joy, and an opportunity to reconcile. They decide to work together to raise their collective daughter with the tenderness and empathy they missed in their own relationships. Yet despite their best intentions, they cannot agree on what that means.

After Camille eventually leaves her mother and grandmother in rural Tennessee for a more cosmopolitan life in Washington, DC with her great-grandmother, it’s unclear whether this complex and self-contained girl will thrive or be overwhelmed by the fears and dreams of three generations she carries. As she grows into a gutsy young woman, Camille must decide for herself what happiness will look like.

In masterful, elegant prose, debut novelist Sarai Johnson has created a rich and moving portrait of Black women’s lives today.

About the author: Sarai Johnson grew up in the South, primarily in Nashville, Tennessee. She studied journalism and English at Howard University, and later earned a Master’s in Literature from American University. She has taught writing at both her alma maters and with several nonprofit writing programs in the DC area. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband, daughter, and dog.

About the moderator: Lauren Francis-Sharma is the author of Book of the Little Axe, the 2020 ALA “Libraries Transform Book Pick” and a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Award in Fiction. Her first novel, 'Til the Well Runs Dry was awarded the Honor Fiction Prize by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and short-listed for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. Lauren is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan Law School, and the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Her next novel, Casualties of Truth, based on her time at the Truth and Reconciliation Hearings in South Africa, will be published by Grove/Atlantic in February. Lauren is a book reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle and a MacDowell Fellow. She serves on the board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation, and is the Assistant Director of Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference at Middlebury College

• 6:30 PM - Doors Open | 7 PM - Discussion Begins
• Event guidelines are subject to change.
• Non-refundable but tickets can be transferred.
• Only books purchased at MahoganyBooks will be signed.

• Please email us at least 7 days in advance at [email protected] should you need any accommodations to attend this event.
• Parking is limited. Ridesharing highly encouraged.
• Masks optional.
• Photographs may be taken during the event WITHOUT FLASH.
• Please note: books not picked up at the event can be retrieved at our National Harbor location for two weeks after event day. Afterwhich, they will be donated to a local organization.
• Note: By entering the event premises, you waive all rights you may have to any claims for payment or royalties in connection with any photographs or videos taken.
• Please tag us and use #mahoganybooks, #blackbooksmatter, #grownwomen, on social media

-- Let's have an amazing evening,

The MahoganyBooks Team

Host or Publisher MahoganyBooks