Mirror Girls

Biracial twins separated at birth navigate colorism, racism, and the ghosts of their shared past in McWilliams’s (Agnes at the End of the World) atmospheric historical novel. In 1953, Charlie Yates, who is Black and works as an organizer in Harlem, travels “home” with her dying grandmother to segregated Eureka, Ga.—where Charlie’s interracial parents were murdered, and where the veil between the living and the dead is thin. There, a mystical mirror reveals that dark-skinned Charlie has a long-lost sister, Magnolia Heathwood, who, lacking knowledge of her ancestry, has always passed for white in Eureka, living on her paternal family’s plantation. As a change mysteriously wrests Magnolia’s reflection from every mirror, spirits guide a questioning Charlie to fulfill their late mother’s final wish: to “fix what’s been broken” between the sisters. The two seek Magnolia’s reflection amid tension in the community, Charlie navigating segregationists’ threats while Magnolia struggles to both find her way out of a system that has until now benefited her and decide who she wants to be when she looks in the mirror. Literalizing the ghosts of the Deep South through a lively backdrop of haunted mansions and vengeful spirits, McWilliams employs alternating chapters voiced by each sister to take on the issue of colorism, resulting in a tender display of sisterhood and bravery amid historical truths. Ages 12–up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Feb.)