The Darkest Child

Winner of the Black Caucus of the ALA Award
Nominee for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award


"The Darkest Child is a great gift, a timeless American treasure." -Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage

"A well-written story that underscores the power of education, The Darkest Child paints a stark picture about life and opportunity for a young black girl in 1950s Jim Crow Georgia. This book brings up timely conversations-the characters haunted me long after I finished reading." -Octavia Spencer, Academy Award-winning actress from The Help and Hidden Figures

"Filled with grand plot events and clearly identifiable villains and victims ... lush with detail and captivating with its story of racial tension and family violence." -The Washington Post Book World

"Phillips writes with a no-nonsense elegance ... As a vision of African-American life, The Darkest Child is one of the harshest novels to arrive in many years ... [Phillips] buttresses those harsh episodes with a depth of characterization worthy of Chekhov, pitch-perfect dialogue, and a profound knowledge of the segregated South in the '50s." -The New Leader

"[An] exceptional debut novel ... [Has] a depth and dimension not often characteristic of a first novel." -Library Journal, Starred Review

"Bold memorable characters and enough drama to keep you up all night wondering what can possibly happen next." -The Black Book Review

"Evil's regenerative powers and one girl's fierce resistance ... A book that deserves a wide audience." -The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Horrific and gripping." -Philadelphia Inquirer

"Heart-rending. -Dallas Morning News

A fierce and bitter story, told with striking authority. Delores Phillips has created a family and a town rich with resonant voices, all of them caught up in struggles both personal and public, and a mother so wildly commanding she earns a place beside some of the great mad women who embitter the lives of the children who love them. -Rosellen Brown, author of Half a Heart and Civil Wars

[A] searing sebut ... Using a cast of powerfully drawn characters, Phillips captures life in a town that serves as a microcosm of a world on the brink of change. -Publishers Weekly

A grim tale, set in the dying days of segregation, about one young woman's struggle to escape her past, her mother, and her duties ... Phillips writes vividly. -Kirkus Reviews

A brilliant, unnerving, memorable debut. -Caribbean Life