FROM THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE
'McBride at his brave and joyous best'
New York Times Book Review

'A furious joy drives these glimpses of brave lives in perilous places'
San Francisco Chronicle

An antiques dealer discovers that a legendary toy commissioned by a Civil War General now sits in the home of a black minister in Queens. Five strangers find themselves thrown together and face unexpected judgment. An American president draws inspiration from a conversation he overhears in a stable. And members of The Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band recount stories from their messy and hilarious lives.

These stories spring from the place where identity, humanity, and history converge. A collection of surprising, perceptive and evocative short stories from internationally bestselling novelist James McBride, Five Carat Soul is a moving exploration of our human condition.

James McBride is the author of the New York Times-bestselling Oprah's Book Club selection Deacon King Kong, the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird, the million-copy-bestselling memoir The Colour of Water, the novels Song Yet Sung and Miracle at St. Anna, the story collection Five-Carat Soul, and Kill 'Em and Leave, a biography of James Brown. The recipient of a National Humanities Medal and an accomplished musician, McBride is also a distinguished writer in residence at New York University.