A Read with Jenna Book Club Pick featured on the Today Show, this warm and wry family drama weaves a magical tale of four generations of Black women grappling with a family love curse and the secrets they keep from one another over a tumultuous year. The Montrose women—Augusta, Victoria, and Willow—have always lived together in their quaint California bungalow, relying on their collection of tinctures and spells as an unspoken bond. However, the arrival of young Nickie Montrose with a boy disrupts their quiet lives. Unbeknownst to Nickie, the family has kept a crucial secret: any person a Montrose woman falls in love with will die. This revelation forces each woman to confront her past choices and mistakes. As new truths about the curse come to light, they find themselves on a collision course with a hidden story dating back to 1950s New Orleans’s French Quarter, where a mysterious book may hold the answers they seek regarding life and love. With richly imagined storytelling and a blend of secrets, heartaches, and unexpected twists, this narrative captures the essence of family bonds and the complexities of love.
