Mother Emanuel: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church

A sweeping, "nuanced and richly detailed" (Booklist) history of one of the nation’s most important African American churches and a profound story of courage and grace amid the fight for racial justice—from Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Kevin Sack

“A masterpiece... a dense, rich, captivating narrative, featuring vivid prose... expansive, inspiring and hugely important.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)

“Race, religion, and terror combine for an extraordinary story of America.”—Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., bestselling author of Begin Again

Few people beyond South Carolina’s Lowcountry knew of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston—Mother Emanuel—before the night of June 17, 2015, when a twenty-one-year-old white supremacist walked into Bible study and slaughtered the church’s charismatic pastor and eight worshippers. The tragedy sparked tension across the nation, yet even the shooter could not have anticipated the aftermath: an out­pouring of forgiveness from victims’ families and a reckoning with the divisions of caste that have afflicted Charleston and the South since the earliest days of European settlement.

In Mother Emanuel, distinguished journalist Kevin Sack explores the deep-rooted history—from its daring breakaway from white churches in 1817, to its critical role in the Civil Rights Movement—that brought the church to its darkest moment yet also inspired the love and fortitude needed to heal. "A sobering, expertly told history" (Kirkus Reviews), Mother Emanuel is an epic account of perseverance, not just of a congregation but of a people who withstood enslavement, Jim Crow, and all manner of violence with an unbending faith.

Publication History:Crown HC 6/25