Edgar B. Hollis Distinguished Author Series: Terah Shelton Harris

The Newnan Carnegie Library Foundation is proud to welcome author and librarian, Terah Shelton Harris for the book launch of Long After We Are Gone. This book is an explosive and emotional story of four siblings—each fighting their own personal battle—who return home in the wake of their father's death in order to save their family's home from being sold out from under them, from the author of One Summer in Savannah.

The book talk will be followed by a book signing. Doors will open at 7:00 pm. Registration is required.

From Alabama librarian TERAH SHELTON HARRIS, author of the acclaimed Target Book Club pick, LibraryReads selection, and Goodreads Choice Awards nominee ONE SUMMER IN SAVANNAH, comes the radiant new novel LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE. For readers of Celeste Ng and Charmaine Wilkerson, this is the story of four siblings—each fighting their own personal battle—who return home in the wake of their father's death to save their family's home from being sold out from under them.

Inspired by the same story highlighted in the 2023 documentary Silver Dollar Road, LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE is centered around a legal process called “heir property,” a form of ownership that began during the Reconstruction when many Black people did not have access to the legal system and began to pass on land to their heirs without a legal will.

The Department of Agriculture recognizes “heir property” as the leading cause of Black involuntary land loss. Without a clear title, it only takes one family member with interest in the land to spark a sale. This is, painfully, what happens to the siblings in LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE which sets the stage for an emotional and poignant family drama about intergenerational trauma and the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children.

TERAH SHELTON HARRIS is a collection development librarian based in Alabama and a freelance writer. She has been published in Women’s Health, Natural Solutions, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Backpacker, Draft, and Women’s Adventure. Find her at https://terahsharris.com/