Mocha Girls Read - Harlem

REMEMBER:
Support a Black-owned Bookstore called RESIST BOOKSELLERS and get 15% off when you use the code MGR22.

About the Book:
It was the middle of the nineteenth century when Lafanu Brown audaciously decided to become an artist. In the wake of the American Civil War, life was especially tough for Black women, but she didn’t let that stop her. The daughter of a Native American woman and an African-Haitian man, Lafanu had the rare opportunity to study, travel, and follow her dreams, thanks to her indomitable spirit, but not without facing intolerance and violence. Now, in 1887, living in Rome as one of the city’s most established painters, she is ready to tell her fiancé about her difficult life, which began in a poor family forty years earlier.

In 2019, an Italian art curator of Somali origin is desperately trying to bring to Europe her younger cousin, who is only sixteen and has already tried to reach Italy on a long, treacherous journey. While organizing an art exhibition that will combine the paintings of Lafanu Brown with the artworks of young migrants, the curator becomes more and more obsessed with the life and secrets of the nineteenth-century painter.

Weaving together these two vibrant voices, Igiaba Scego has crafted a powerful exploration of what it means to be “other,” to be a woman, and particularly a Black woman, in a foreign country, yesterday and today.

About the Author:
Igiaba Scego is an Italian writer and journalist who was born in Rome in 1974 to Somali parents. She holds a PhD in education focused on postcolonial subjects and has conducted extensive academic work in Italy and internationally.

Her writing explores Italian and Somali histories and identities, colonial memory, migration, racism, and belonging. Through her fiction, nonfiction, and journalism, Scego has examined the connections between Italy and Africa as well as the experiences of the African diaspora in Italy.

Her works include Beyond Babylon, Adua, and La mia casa è dove sono. The latter received Italy’s Mondello Prize, while La linea del colore, published in English as The Color Line, received the Premio Napoli.

Google Meet joining info:
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/tyi-vyfn-adh
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 434-362-0922‬ PIN: ‪448 371 185‬#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/tyi-vyfn-adh?pin=2155830972647

Warmly,
Mocha Girl Leanna

Our October 2026 monthly book selection is "The Color Line" by Igiaba Scego.

Remember, if you don't finish the book, you are still welcome, so come anyway!

R.S.V.P. Etiquette:
Please make sure to RSVP to an event or book club meeting ONLY if you are going. Do not RSVP if you are thinking about going or would like to go.
Thanks in advance and I can't wait to see you all!

REMEMBER:
Support a Black-owned Bookstore called RESIST BOOKSELLERS and get 15% off when you use the code MGR22.

About the Book:
It was the middle of the nineteenth century when Lafanu Brown audaciously decided to become an artist. In the wake of the American Civil War, life was especially tough for Black women, but she didn’t let that stop her. The daughter of a Native American woman and an African-Haitian man, Lafanu had the rare opportunity to study, travel, and follow her dreams, thanks to her indomitable spirit, but not without facing intolerance and violence. Now, in 1887, living in Rome as one of the city’s most established painters, she is ready to tell her fiancé about her difficult life, which began in a poor family forty years earlier.

In 2019, an Italian art curator of Somali origin is desperately trying to bring to Europe her younger cousin, who is only sixteen and has already tried to reach Italy on a long, treacherous journey. While organizing an art exhibition that will combine the paintings of Lafanu Brown with the artworks of young migrants, the curator becomes more and more obsessed with the life and secrets of the nineteenth-century painter.

Weaving together these two vibrant voices, Igiaba Scego has crafted a powerful exploration of what it means to be “other,” to be a woman, and particularly a Black woman, in a foreign country, yesterday and today.

About the Author:
Igiaba Scego is an Italian writer and journalist who was born in Rome in 1974 to Somali parents. She holds a PhD in education focused on postcolonial subjects and has conducted extensive academic work in Italy and internationally.

Her writing explores Italian and Somali histories and identities, colonial memory, migration, racism, and belonging. Through her fiction, nonfiction, and journalism, Scego has examined the connections between Italy and Africa as well as the experiences of the African diaspora in Italy.

Her works include Beyond Babylon, Adua, and La mia casa è dove sono. The latter received Italy’s Mondello Prize, while La linea del colore, published in English as The Color Line, received the Premio Napoli.

REMEMBER:
Support a Black-owned Bookstore called RESIST BOOKSELLERS and get 15% off when you use the code MGR22.

About the Book:
In 1949, four Chinese immigrant women living in San Francisco begin gathering regularly to play mahjong, share stories, enjoy food, and find comfort in one another’s company. United by memories of their lives in China, personal losses, and hopes for their futures, they call their gathering the Joy Luck Club.

Each woman carries a history shaped by hardship, sacrifice, tradition, and survival. As they build new lives in America, they hope to give their daughters opportunities they themselves never had. But their American-born daughters, raised between two cultures, often struggle to understand their mothers’ expectations, beliefs, and seemingly endless advice.

Through sixteen interconnected stories, Amy Tan takes readers between China and the United States, revealing the experiences that shaped these women and the secrets that continue to influence their families. As mothers reflect on the lives they left behind and daughters confront their own challenges, both generations begin to discover how deeply their identities are connected.

First published in 1989, The Joy Luck Club is a moving exploration of the bonds between mothers and daughters, the importance of family history, and the ways love, memory, and cultural traditions are passed from one generation to the next.

At its heart, this is a story about women finding strength in one another, learning to understand their past, and discovering that even the most complicated relationships can hold extraordinary love.

About the Author:
Amy Tan is an acclaimed American author whose writing explores family relationships, cultural identity, immigration, memory, and the experiences of Chinese American women.

Born in Oakland, California, in 1952 to Chinese immigrant parents, Tan grew up surrounded by different languages, family traditions, and stories of her mother’s life in China. These experiences would later become an important influence on her writing.

Her debut novel, The Joy Luck Club, was published in 1989 and became an international bestseller. The novel was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and was adapted into a successful feature film in 1993, with Tan serving as a co-screenwriter and co-producer.

In recognition of her contributions to American literature, Tan received the National Humanities Medal in 2023.

Through her storytelling, Amy Tan continues to explore how family histories, personal experiences, and the relationships between generations shape the people we become.