Hi, this is Zibi Owens, and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby. Formerly, moms don't have time to read books. In my daily show, I interview today's latest, best-selling, buzziest, or underrated authors and story creators, whose work I think is worth your time. As a bookstore owner, publisher, author, and obviously podcaster, I get a comprehensive

look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't

have to.

Stay in the know, get insider insights, and connect with guests like I do every single day.

For more information, go to zibbmedia.com and follow me on Instagram

at Zibby Owens. Charmaine Wilkerson is the New York Times bestselling author of Black

Cake, which was named a Read with Jenna Book Club pick and adapted as a Hulu streaming series

by Oprah Winfrey and Capital Entertainment.

By the way, I loved it. She is an American writer who has lived in Jamaica and Italy, a graduate

of Barnard College and Stanford University. She is a former journalist whose award-winning short fiction

has appeared in various magazines and anthologies. Welcome, Charmaine. I'm so excited to have you back on my show to talk

about good dirt, having already discussed Blackcake, and now I get to talk to you about yet another

fabulous book of yours. Congratulations. Thank you. It's great to see you, and thanks for taking time to

read the book. Of course. I loved this book, not only because of the plot and the emotions of all

the characters and the language and all that, but also I learned a lot. And I love books where

I come away, like, fascinated and, like, pouring over all of your sources at the end and being

inspired to, like, go to museums, to see what you're talking about like I learned so

much so for that reason too all of it it was really wonderful right thank you you know it's interesting

because I learned a lot too I continue to write mostly from a point of emotion or a question I may have

or maybe an image pops into my head,

and that's how the story of Ebby Freeman, the protagonist in the present day, began.

But as I thought, okay, what is she doing on the Connecticut coast when her family comes from Massachusetts?

...