Now Lila Knows Hardcover by Elizabeth Nunez

Product Details

• Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd. (2022-06-14)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 256 pages
• ISBN-13: 9781636140247
• Item Weight: 328.86 grams
• Dimensions: 21.72 x 13.92 x 2.34 cm

There is nothing like racial injustice in America to teach an outsider the differences between perception and reality.

“Powerful in message . . . An engaging, warm-hearted, page-turner of a novel.” —New West Indian Guide

For Lila Bonnard, the opportunity to take a position as a visiting professor in the US has come at precisely the right time. Still nursing the wounds of one failed relationship and facing uncertainty over her current boyfriend’s marriage proposal, spending a year at a small liberal arts college in a picturesque Vermont town offers her sanity a well-deserved rest.

Within moments of her arrival, Lila is forced to face anti-immigrant mentalities and becomes a witness to the fatal police shooting of an unarmed Black man—a fellow professor at Mayfield who was giving CPR to a white woman.

The three Black faculty members in the otherwise all-white, tight-lipped college expect Lila to testify in the case—but at what cost? Mistrust of outsiders, racial tensions, even outright condemnation of others who “don’t know their place” . . .  all of it comes crashing down around her as she confronts the dangers of speaking out against the police.

Now Lila Knows is a gripping story that explores our obligation to act when confronted with hatred and prejudice. A page-turner with universal resonance, this novel will leave readers rethinking the meaning of love, empathy, and even humanity.

About the Author

Elizabeth Nunez, PhD, is the bestselling author of 10 novels, including Bruised Hibiscus, winner of an American Book Award. Nunez’s book Boundaries was selected as a New York Times Editors' Choice and was a 2012 NAACP Image Award nominee. She immigrated to the United States from Trinidad and is a distinguished professor at Hunter College, the City University of New York.