Mary Monroe is a ''New York Times'' bestselling

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

fiction

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

."My Novels"
Mary Monroe Official Website. Her first novel, ''The Upper Room'', was published by

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

in 1985. She is best known for her novel ''God Don't Like Ugly'' (originally published by Dafina Books in Fall 2000), and the series revolving around the characters first introduced in this book.

Biography

Mary Monroe was born on December 12, 1949, and is the third of four children, born in

Toxey, Alabama Toxey is a town in Choctaw County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 145. Geography Toxey is located south of the center of Choctaw County at 31°54'49.118" North, 88°18'30.485" West (31.913644, -88.308468). Acco ...

. She spent the first part of her life in Alabama and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, moving to

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.

, in 1973. She was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. She is a self-taught writer, she never attended college or took any writing classes. Her first novel, ''The Upper Room'', was published by

in New York in 1985, and in London by

Allison and Busby Allison & Busby (A & B) is a publishing house based in London established by Clive Allison and Margaret Busby in 1967. The company has built up a reputation as a leading independent publisher. Background Launching as a publishing company in May ...

in 1986. Her second novel, ''God Don't Like Ugly'', was published in 2000 by

Kensington Books Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American, New Yorkbased publishing house founded in 1974 by Walter Zacharius (1923–2011)Grimes, William''New York Times'' (MARCH 7, 2011). and Roberta Bender Grossman (1946–1992). Kensington is known as "Am ...

, and in 2001 won a PEN Oakland Award for Best Fiction of the Year. A successful author and mother of two children, Monroe currently resides in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, where she continues to write bestselling novels. Monroe is divorced, she travels the world and writes books based on life experiences and the people around her.

Awards

PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award The PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award is for U.S. multicultural writers, to "promote works of excellence by writers of all cultural and racial backgrounds and to educate both the public and the media as to the nature of multicultural work. ...

in 2001. * Best Southern Author Award for ''Gonna Lay Down My Burdens'' in 2004. *

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...

Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 * J. California Cooper Memorial Award in 2017 * ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for the ''God Don't Like Ugly Series'' in September 2006

Bibliography

Novels

* ''One House Over: The Neighbors #1'' * ''The Devil You Know'' * ''Never Trust A Stranger'' * ''Can You Keep A Secret?'' * ''Every Woman's Dream'' * ''Bad Blood'' * ''Family Of Lies'' * ''Red Light Wives''

Kensington Books

* ''The Upper Room'' * ''God Don't Like Ugly'' * ''Gonna Lay Down My Burdens'' * ''God Still Don't Like Ugly'' * ''Red Light Wives'' * ''In Sheep's Clothing'' * ''God Don't Play'' * ''Borrow Trouble'' * ''Deliver Me From Evil'' * ''Company We Keep'' * ''She Had it Coming'' * ''God Ain't Blind'' * ''God Ain't Through Yet'' * ''Mama Ruby'' * ''God Don't Make Mistakes'' * ''Lost Daughters''

Reviews

''God Don't Like Ugly''

Some believe by using an innocent young girl's voice, Monroe provides a hopeful tone for a dark sequence of events. Monroe's writing of the characters in this novel is strong, and is the major reason for emotional investment in the book.

''She Had It Coming''

A common review is that the main picture Monroe draws through this novel is how secrets can destroy friendships. Monroe creates a chain of deceptions and betrayals, some of which are believable and others that may cause raised eyebrows.

''Deliver Me From Evil''

Some critics think the narration by Patricia Floyd provides a different outlook on the characters, who just from their actions are made to seem greedy, ignorant, or any other number of off-putting adjectives. Monroe leaves it unclear as to any details about the titular evil, providing much room for interpretation on the part of the audience. While others feel the narrative is fun but it has a repetitive exposition. The critics agree that the characters are nasty in nature and that readers are in for a surprise.

''God Don't Make No Mistakes''

A critical review is that Monroe uses humor to add new dimensions to the lives of ordinary people, making them seem interesting to readers.

References

External links

Mary Monroe's official websiteFacebook: Beverly Barton Official Fan PageTwitter: Beverly Barton"Author Interview with New York Times Best Selling Author Mary Monroe"
''Write 2 Be Magazine'', November 11, 2020. * Margaret Y. Buapim-West

''WOW! Women On Writing''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Monroe, Mary 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century African-American writers Living people PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners People from Choctaw County, Alabama Writers from Alabama 1949 births