Mother Emanuel by Kevin Sack

Extended Synopsis

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 white supremacist walked into Bible study and slaughtered the church’s charismatic pastor and eight other worshippers. Although the shooter targeted the first A.M.E. church in the South to agitate racial strife, he did not anticipate the profound outpouring of forgiveness from the victims’ families. This epic narrative explores the fascinating history that brought the church to that tragic moment, revealing how Black suffering shaped forgiveness into both a religious practice and a survival tool through the traumas of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Civil Rights Movement.

Author Bio & Accolades

Kevin Sack is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who has covered race in his native South for more than four decades. Mother Emanuel has been universally lauded, named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and praised by bestselling author Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., who noted that "race, religion, and terror combine for an extraordinary story of America."

Reader Targeting

Essential reading for students of American history, African American studies, and civil rights, as well as readers seeking deeply reported narratives on racial justice, faith, and the enduring resilience of the human spirit.

Product Specifications