Devil Is Fine

John Vercher’s gut-wrenching third novel begins with its unnamed protagonist, a biracial writing professor and struggling author, having a panic attack on his way to his teenage son’s funeral. These attacks have become an all too common occurrence since the 17-year-old’s death. As have the one-sided conversations he’s started having with his late child. Days after the burial, he learns he has inherited a plot of land that was once a plantation from his estranged white grandfather. He goes down there looking to sell, but finds himself convening with the ghosts of those who were buried on the grounds. In this haunting work of magical realism, the professor is forced to reckon with his family’s tortured past and his own parenting sins.

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