Jacki Kelly

A sweeping story of hardship, hope, and the unbreakable bond between mother and daughters. In the unforgiving shadows of the Great Depression and the Jim Crow South, Queen Lassiter dares to dream of something more. When her husband's mining job in Carolina, West Virginia, robs him of his health and eventually his life, Queen takes the small insurance payout and makes a bold move-relocating her two daughters to Roanoke, Virginia, in search of a future brighter than coal dust and cotton fields.
But starting over isn't easy. Ruby and Eliza, smart, spirited, and scarred by grief, soon discover that city life brings its own battles. There are more lights, more promise, and more danger. And while their new home offers indoor plumbing and proper bedrooms, it can't protect them from broken promises, betrayal, or the weight of being young, Black, and female in a world stacked against them. Told through the poignant journeys of three unforgettable women, Those Lassiter Girls is a heart-wrenching, beautifully rendered novel about a family shaped by loss, strengthened by love, and bound by the resilience that only women who've survived the worst can truly know.