“James: A Young Man with an Unplanned Future” is the first of two novels that follow the life of James Paul Taylor, a young black man in a small southern town. The story opens with James and his pregnant girlfriend, Theola, running away from their small town to seek opportunities in Chicago. As the narrative unfolds, we struggle with James to find his place in the world – as a husband, a father, and a black man in a land of inequality and racism.

From the very beginning of the story, I was engaged by the characters, their development, their struggles, and their fears. Their encounters with both overt and implicit racism are disheartening and deplorable. But through it all, James and Theola’s love carries them.

The novel closes with the greatest struggle James has ever faced. I won’t give it away, but I am already starting the second novel. I couldn’t wait.