Black & gold

At the center of this powerful novel is Leela Wilder, a proud and beautiful African American woman, torn between two very different men, and struggling for survival and success in the torrent of greed, ambition, intrigue and prejudice that turned oil-rich Texas farmlands into wellsprings of fabulous fortune in the tumultuous 1920s. Leela's mother died in childbirth, and her father died when she was a small girl, so she has had only her inner strength and intelligence to make her way in a world where odds are stacked against her. When she weds T.J. Wilder, who farms the land he calls Rioluces with a fierce passion, it seems that at last she has won out over the bad hand fate dealt her. But trouble returns in the handsome form of Carey Logan, T.J.'s half-brother; a gambling man who stirs Leela's ardor as her husband never had, and leaves her shattered by shame, alone with a child to raise and 340 drought-stricken acres to farm. When oil fever sweeps over Texas, bankers and drillers scent a killing to be made at Rioluces, forcing Leela into the fight of her life. Carey Logan is more seductive and treacherous than ever and Leela turns for protection to Victor Beaufort, the only black wildcatter in Texas, and a tough and confident man. He will do and risk anything to win in an oil game ruthlessly rigged in the white man's favor; even if it means breaking his word to Leela, and her heart as well. Thus the stage is set for a drama that plunges Leela into a quickening whirlpool of twisted family ties and shocking secrets, moral betrayal and flaming violence that threaten to destroy everything she possesses. With an unforgettable heroine and a vividly evocative portrayal of strong African American families, Black Gold rivets with passion and power; and marks the emergence of an important voice and vision in American fiction.