November 25th 2023.
Denene Millner is a New York Times Bestselling author with an impressive portfolio of 31 books to her name, including books published under her children's imprint. Her latest work, One Blood, is a special one for Millner.
November is National Adoption Month, and One Blood is a tale of Black life, lineage, and love, loosely based on Millner's experience as an adoptee. Millner discovered she was adopted at the age of 12, and since then she has been driven by questions about her identity and origin.
"One Blood was born of my dreams, of things that I always wanted to ask my mother that I couldn’t because she’s no longer with me in the physical realm," Millner told BLACK ENTERPRISE.
She continued: "I was just asking myself questions like, what is it that I wanted to know about Grace? Who is a teenage girl who gets pregnant and has her baby taken away? Like, what is it that I want to know about this woman? What is it that I want to know about Dolores? Who is the mother who adopts the baby that’s taken away from Grace? What are the questions that I have for this woman? Not just about raising this child, but what it’s like to kind of raise yourself in society that just grossly undervalues you or devalues you or doesn’t value you at all?"
For Millner, her own adoption story and who both her mothers were is directly tied to who she is as a Black woman, mother, daughter and partner. Through her own curiosity and understanding, she was able to craft deeply complex characters and a riveting story that is the most important novel of her career.
BLACK ENTERPRISE was able to obtain an excerpt from One Blood that won't disappoint. In Chapter 28, Rae and LoLo have a conversation about Rae's father, and how his presence in her life is still felt even after his passing. Rae reveals she has been seeing things in her dreams since she was little, and LoLo surprises her by pulling out a small white pouch full of items that belonged to Rae's father.
This excerpt from One Blood is sure to leave a lasting impression on readers. Millner's work is a beautiful reminder of the power of family, and the importance of understanding and accepting one's identity.
Denene Millner is an acclaimed New York Times Bestselling author, with 31 books and numerous books published under her children’s imprint Denene Millner books. Her latest work, One Blood is a timely tale of Black life, lineage, and love that is rooted in her real-life experience as an adoptee.
Millner discovered her adoption when she was 12 years old and this sparked her curiosity to find out more about her identity and origins. She channelled this curiosity into her novel. In an interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE, Millner said that One Blood was born out of her dreams and the questions she had for her mother that she couldn’t ask her since she is no longer with her.
Millner's own adoption story is closely linked to who she is and out of this curiosity, a riveting story of deeply complex characters was born. BLACK ENTERPRISE was lucky enough to get an exclusive excerpt of the novel that won’t disappoint.
The excerpt is about a mother and daughter having a conversation that is pivotal to the story. The daughter, Rae, had been smelling her father's aftershave and experiencing him in her dreams. She was worried that her mother would think this to be an evil occurrence. However, her mother, LoLo, had something to show Rae that would prove otherwise. She had a pouch containing a lock of hair, a rabbits foot, a pipe, and a handkerchief with some blood stains on it - all belonging to her father.
This scene and the novel as a whole is a powerful reminder of the importance of identity and family. Millner's story is one that speaks to the heart and the soul and is sure to be a timeless classic.
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