{ "item_title" : "Ghalen", "item_author" : [" Walter Mosley "], "item_description" : "An Instant BestsellerVibrant and powerful, Ghalen dives deep into the euphoric, heartbreaking, utterly humane story of one fascinating family--populated with the type of characters who don't usually receive top billing. As always, Mosley tenderly crafted a world so genuine, so poignant, I never wanted to leave..-- Tia Williams, NYT bestselling author of The Missed ConnectionA beautiful coming-of-age novel from MWA Grand Master and PEN and Edgar Award-winner Walter Mosley that explores love in all forms--romantic, familial, and platonic, centered on one Black family, including a neurodivergent man, and the found bonds that helps ground them.One of the most acclaimed writers working today, Walter Mosley spins magic once again in this beautiful novel that explores the lives of Black characters and one remarkable family through a lens both universal and unique. It touches on the lives of those whose deepest thoughts and motivations are seldom explored--including the neurodivergent, the incarcerated, and the immigrant tortured by their past--characters who will stay with you and change how you see the world.Ghalen, a brilliant young Black man, is the son of two seemingly mismatched parents. His mother, a gifted scientist, whose own mother expected her to exceed all the achievements in her family, and his father, a gentle cook at a small vegan restaurant, whose idiosyncratic nature shows the young woman a radically different love and understanding of life, despite his inexperience and lack of education.His parents' grand love story starts it all off, setting us up to follow Ghalen and his family so deeply, that each new twist and turn feels personal.The journey through Ghalen's coming-of-age tale, as he ventures out into the world, is marked with peaks and valleys and such a drive that you can't help but strap in for it all, while not wanting it to end.Lush and cinematic, with the narrative drive and indelible power of Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead and Paul Murray's The Bee Sting, Ghalen is one of this bestselling, prize-winning writer's finest achievements.What you will find:Masterful StorytellingRarely Centered PerspectivesAn Unconventional Love StoryVisceral Coming-of-AgePerfect for fans of Demon Copperhead or The Bee Sting", "item_img_path" : "https://covers4.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/06/345/155/0063451557_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "30.00", "online_price" : "30.00", "our_price" : "30.00", "club_price" : "30.00", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "30.00" } }

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Bestselling novelist Walter Mosley has won literary acclaim—Edgar, PEN and O. Henry awards—for hard-boiled crime novels featuring Black private investigators like Easy Rawlins and Joe King Oliver. But in his swift-moving novel, Ghalen: A Romance in Black, Mosley takes a different direction, delivering an energetic exploration of love and coming-of-age that is likely to enthrall readers. In the novel’s opening scene, Jamilah Fenestra and Robert Horton meet under an umbrella during a surprise rain shower at the Santa Monica farmer’s market. The year is 1999, a time when it’s uncommon for either of them to see another Black person at the beachside market. Their attraction is immediate, but the course of true love never runs smooth, right? Jamilah is a brilliant dual M.D. and Ph.D. degree student at UCLA. She was raised in suburban Pasadena by her controlling mother, the delightfully named Pristine. Robert, a smart and gentle neurodivergent man, works as a cook in a vegan restaurant, lives in a dangerous LA neighborhood called “The Jungle,” and frequently visits his institutionalized mother, Myrtle. On paper this is a relationship that should go nowhere—and that’s definitely how Jamilah’s mother sees it. She notices Robert’s slow responses to her questions and refers to him using a slur for mental disability, angering Jamilah. When Jamilah gets pregnant, Pristine severs family ties. After the birth of Ghalen, our coming-of-age hero, Mosley’s narrative revs up. When Ghalen is 10, Jamilah dies unexpectedly, and the young boy must be the responsible one in the family. He spends time in restaurant kitchens with his father, becoming a decent chef, which serves him well during his adolescent rambles. With his two closest pals Bruno and Lovely, Ghalen finds the stability of a three-legged stool, but teenage hormones arrive for the triangle, bringing dire consequences. Despite his youth, Ghalen’s instincts are ethical. Out of loyalty to Bruno, he guts out a brutal stint in jail. With Mosley at the wheel, Ghalen surges forward. His writing is simple and clear, and his minor characters dazzle from the shoulders of the narrative. Here are stories of true love and incompatible love; of violence and men’s attempts to dominate; of random, impersonal harassment by the police; and of food-filled celebrations at the center of family life. Sometimes Mosley floors it to the edge of credibility. Other times he slows to allow us to enjoy the view and feel pretty sure that Ghalen, by the end of the book almost 20, will find his way. Sit back. Enjoy the ride.

"I wanted to write about real people, real Black people, having an experience of love." Read our interview with Walter Mosley about Ghalen.