This Ain't No Promised Land: A Novel

Summary

When her husband dies, Charlotte can’t face the things she’s done that could tear her family apart. Especially when her mama leaves her to grieve alone. So she drops a goodbye letter in the cookie jar and flees south to escape everything—her life, her three daughters, the mistakes she’s made, and the secrets eating her alive.

Now Gracey and her sisters are alone on Chicago’s South Side with nothing but their home and belongings. They’re doing everything they can to stay together. Their close-knit Black community gathers around them to keep them fed and clothed with the utilities on, but that’s not enough to fix the damage of abandonment.

Hundreds of miles away, Charlotte is struggling to keep her own head above water. She’s made a close friend who talks to her about God in a way Charlotte’s never heard before, but still her grief over a past assault overwhelms her. Even if she’s able to find the courage to confront her pain and embrace motherhood again, will it be enough to save the family she left behind?

“With stellar storytelling skills, Tina Shelton reminds us that while love isn’t always enough to erase the hurts, it’s the only way to survive them. A powerful read!”—Julie Cantrell, New York Times & USA Today best-selling author of Perennials