Mocha Girls Read - Harlem

REMEMBER:
Support a Black-owned Bookstore called RESIST BOOKSELLERS and get 15% off when you use the code MGR22.

About the Book:
Based on a true story, “The Book of Negroes” tells the story of Aminata, a young girl abducted from her village in Mali aged 11 in 1755, and who, after a deathly journey on a slave ship where she witnesses the brutal repression of a slave revolt, is sold to a plantation owner in South Carolina, who rapes her. She is brought to New York, where she escapes her owner, and finds herself helping the British by recording all the freed slaves on the British side in the Revolutionary War in The Book of Negroes (a real historical document that can be found today at the National Archives at Kew). Aminata is sent to Nova Scotia to start a new life, but finds more hostility, oppression, and tragedy. Separated from her one true love, and suffering the unimaginable loss of both her children, who are taken away from her, she eventually joins a group of freed slaves on a harrowing odyssey back to Africa, and ends up in London as a living icon for Wilberforce and the other Abolitionists. “The Book of Negroes” is a page-turning narrative that manages to use Aminata’s heart-rending personal story to bring to life a harrowing chapter in our history.

About the Author:
Lawrence Hill (born January 24, 1957) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, and memoirist. He is known for his 2007 novel The Book of Negroes, inspired by the Black Loyalists given freedom and resettled in Nova Scotia by the British after the American Revolutionary War, and his 2001 memoir Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada. The Book of Negroes was adapted for a TV mini-series produced in 2015. He was selected in 2013 for the Massey Lectures; he drew from his non-fiction book Blood: The Stuff of Life, published that year. His ten books include other non-fiction and fictional works, and some have been translated into other languages and published in numerous other countries.

Hill was born in Newmarket, Ontario, to an American couple who had immigrated to Toronto from Washington, D.C., in 1953. His father was black, and his mother was white. Hill served as chair of the jury for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/tyi-vyfn-adh
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 434-362-0922‬ PIN: ‪448 371 185‬#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/tyi-vyfn-adh?pin=2155830972647

Warmly,
Mocha Girl Leanna

Our August 2026 monthly book selection is "The Book of Negroes" by Lawrence Hill.

Remember, if you don't finish the book, you are still welcome, so come anyway!

R.S.V.P. Etiquette:
Please make sure to RSVP to an event or book club meeting ONLY if you are going. Do not RSVP if you are thinking about going or would like to go.
Thanks in advance and I can't wait to see you all!

REMEMBER:
Support a Black-owned Bookstore called RESIST BOOKSELLERS and get 15% off when you use the code MGR22.

About the Book:
Based on a true story, “The Book of Negroes” tells the story of Aminata, a young girl abducted from her village in Mali aged 11 in 1755, and who, after a deathly journey on a slave ship where she witnesses the brutal repression of a slave revolt, is sold to a plantation owner in South Carolina, who rapes her. She is brought to New York, where she escapes her owner, and finds herself helping the British by recording all the freed slaves on the British side in the Revolutionary War in The Book of Negroes (a real historical document that can be found today at the National Archives at Kew). Aminata is sent to Nova Scotia to start a new life, but finds more hostility, oppression, and tragedy. Separated from her one true love, and suffering the unimaginable loss of both her children, who are taken away from her, she eventually joins a group of freed slaves on a harrowing odyssey back to Africa, and ends up in London as a living icon for Wilberforce and the other Abolitionists. “The Book of Negroes” is a page-turning narrative that manages to use Aminata’s heart-rending personal story to bring to life a harrowing chapter in our history.

About the Author:
Lawrence Hill (born January 24, 1957) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, and memoirist. He is known for his 2007 novel The Book of Negroes, inspired by the Black Loyalists given freedom and resettled in Nova Scotia by the British after the American Revolutionary War, and his 2001 memoir Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada. The Book of Negroes was adapted for a TV mini-series produced in 2015. He was selected in 2013 for the Massey Lectures; he drew from his non-fiction book Blood: The Stuff of Life, published that year. His ten books include other non-fiction and fictional works, and some have been translated into other languages and published in numerous other countries.

Hill was born in Newmarket, Ontario, to an American couple who had immigrated to Toronto from Washington, D.C., in 1953. His father was black, and his mother was white. Hill served as chair of the jury for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Join Mocha Girls Read for a special Author Chat featuring ’Pemi Aguda, author of One Leg on Earth.
Mocha Girl Renée will sit down with our July sponsored author for an engaging conversation about One Leg on Earth, her writing, and the stories and ideas behind her work. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear directly from the author and connect with fellow Mocha Girls who share a love of books, thoughtful conversation, and community.

Whether you have already read One Leg on Earth or are discovering ’Pemi Aguda’s work for the first time, you are welcome to join us.

📚 Author: ’Pemi Aguda
🎤 Hosted by: Mocha Girl Renée
📅 Friday, September 18, 2026
⏰ 4:00 PM PT / 7:00 PM ET

About the book:
Something is haunting the pregnant women of Lagos. Across the city, they are walking into water . . . and drowning.
Twenty-three-year-old Yosoye arrives in Lagos ready to start her life. Working for a slick architectural firm, she finds a city of adventure and opportunity. Her new world is one of fancy gallery openings, glamorous friends, and all the shiny potential of the future, encapsulated in projects like Omi City, the ultra-luxury development her company is building, a symbol of the dawn of a brighter Lagos.
But Yosoye’s idyllic vision of Lagos soon begins to seem naive, and its darker, stranger layers trouble her. Something is not right about Omi City, and as construction speeds ahead, stories of strange deaths in the city’s open waters reach a fever pitch. And then, after a chance encounter, Yosoye discovers she is pregnant . . . a revelation which puts her on a collision course with an inexplicable force that is as seductive as it is deadly. A masterwork by a writer hailed as “an astonishing talent” (Lauren Groff), One Leg on Earth is an ambitious novel like no other: a coming-of-age story, an uncanny exploration of motherhood, and a chilling vision of the dark side of progress.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Meeting ID: 818 6953 3170
Passcode: 8959