Description

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Nina Revoyr brings us a compelling story of race, love, murder, and history against the backdrop of Los Angeles.

—Winner of the 2004 American Library Association Stonewall Honor Award in Literature

—Winner of the 2003 Lambda Literary Award

“Compelling . . . never lacking in vivid detail and authentic atmosphere, the novel cements Revoyr’s reputation as one of the freshest young chroniclers of life in LA.” —Publishers Weekly



“What makes a book like Southland resonate is that it merges elements of literature and social history with the propulsive drive of a mystery, while evoking Southern California as a character, a key player in the tale. Such aesthetics have motivated other Southland writers, most notably Walter Mosley.” —Los Angeles Times

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.

About the Author

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NINA REVOYR is the author of six novels, including A Student of History; Lost Canyon; The Age of Dreaming, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Southland, a Los Angeles Times bestseller and “Best Book” of 2003; The Necessary Hunger; and Wingshooters, which won an Indie Booksellers Choice Award and was selected by O, The Oprah Magazine as one of “10 Titles to Pick Up Now.” Revoyr lives and works in the Los Angeles area.

Praise For…

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It is the kind of saga that often epitomizes and shocks LA—friction and violence between races and cultures.
— Los Angeles Times, named one of the 20 Essential LA Crime Books

When I started working on Your House Will Pay, I hoped to write something that was half as smart and affecting as Southland. Revoyr’s novel takes place in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles, following two families — one black, one Japanese — over several decades. It’s a character-driven saga with the engine of a crime novel, unravelling a horrific multiple murder that took place in the chaotic days of the Watts Rebellion in 1965.

— The Guardian (UK), one of Steph Cha’s Top 10 Books About Trouble in Los Angeles

If Oprah still had her book club, this novel likely would be at the top of her list . . . With prose that is beautiful, precise, but never pretentious . . .
— Booklist, Starred Review

Fascinating and heartbreaking . . . an essential part of LA history.


— LA Weekly

Southland is a simmering stew of individual dreams, family struggles, cultural relations, social changes, and race relations. It is a compelling, challenging, and rewarding novel.


— Chicago Free Press