Southland

by Nina Revoyr

Book, 2003

Publication

Akashic Books (2008), Edition: First Edition, 350 pages

Awards

Lambda Literary Award (Winner — 2003)
Edgar Award (Nominee — 2004)
Publishing Triangle Awards (Finalist — 2004)
Stonewall Book Award (Honor Book — Literature — 2004)

Content and Summary Info

Bisexual Content: A significant supporting character (cisgender woman) is bisexual.

Intersecting Marginalized Identities: The bisexual character is Asian/Japanese. Includes several Japanese characters, including the main character (lesbian) and several black characters.

Publisher's Summary: Nina Revoyr brings us a compelling story of race, love, murder, and history against the backdrop of Los Angeles. A young Japanese-American woman, Jackie Ishida, is in her last semester of law school when her grandfather, Frank Sakai, dies unexpectedly. While trying to fulfill a request from his will, Jackie discovers that four black teenagers were killed in the store he ran during the Watts Riots of 1965—and that the murders were never solved or reported. Along with James Lanier, a cousin of one of the victims, she tries to piece together the story of the boys’ deaths. In the process, Jackie unearths the long-held secrets of her family’s history—and her own. Moving in and out of the past, from the shipping yards and internment camps of World War II; to the barley fields of the Crenshaw District in the 1930s; to the means streets of Watts in the 1960s; to the night spots and garment factories of the 1990s, Southland weaves a tale of Los Angeles in all of its faces and forms.

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