B&N Reads, Black History Month, Guest Post, Historical Fiction, YA

Words in a Frame: An Exclusive Guest Post from Krystal Marquis, Author of The Davenports, Our February YA Book Club Pick

By Krystal Marquis / January 30, 2023 at 1:28 am

Hardcover $19.99

The Davenports (Barnes & Noble YA Book Club Edition)

In Stock Online

Hardcover $19.99

Travel back to Chicago in 1910 with this swoony read that looks back on an often-overlooked period of African American history. With four determined and passionate young Black women taking charge of their lives (and hearts), The Davenports is inspired by the real-life story of C.R. Patterson and his family. Meet Olivia, Helen, Amy-Rose, and Ruby as their intertwined love lives take center stage in this delightful debut. Keep reading to discover how a singular picture started it all for Krystal Marquis.

It’s said a picture is worth a thousand words.

For me, there’s one that sparked thousands. It’s a gentleman in a suit, posing with “a horseless carriage,” its simple frame and engine exposed. He exudes pride and confidence as he braces himself on the car his company built. And with my combined interests in cars and history, it didn’t take much to stir my curiosity. I read on.

C.R. Patterson with the car his company built

Below the image was an article about Charles Richard Patterson, described as a formerly enslaved man who built a successful carriage company at the turn of the last century. He’d garnered wealth and respect in Greenfield, Ohio as a businessman. When he passed, his son, Frederick Patterson, converted the now C. R. Patterson & Sons to an automobile manufacturer — the first and only Black American-owned and operated automobile company.

Featured on the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture’s website, it chronicled the company’s history and its impact on the community. I was surprised to find that C. R. Patterson & Sons employed an integrated workforce in a time when racial tensions were high and segregation created barriers to Black Americans. Like a breadcrumb, I followed the photo credit to the Greenfield Historical Society, which then led to other articles documenting C.R. and Frederick’s pioneering spirit and newspaper ads championing their custom automobiles.

It wasn’t until I came across a paragraph mentioning the Patterson patriarch’s three daughters, Dorothea, Mary, and Kate, that a story that would later become The Davenports began to take shape. Undeterred by the few mentions of them in my research, I explored what life was like for women in their position. What did it mean to be young, Black, and wealthy during the post-Reconstruction Era as America struggled to redefine itself?

I soon found myself with a notebook filled with prominent Black figures like Ida B. Wells and Madame C. J. Walker, carriage designs, and lists of vibrant but short-lived Black communities like Tulsa’s Greenwood District that thrived during the Great Migration. Together, they added to the rich quilt of American history I didn’t learn in school. My favorite part of my research was a narrative of Black excellence that had been silenced but was now steadily rising to the surface of a tumultuous 2020. Like Olivia and Helen Davenport, there were Black Americans who lived in grand estates and used their influence to promote equity in both the workplace and at the polls. New documentaries and greater access to online databases made it easier to gather the historical context I needed to make 1910 Chicago — which had its own tab in the characters section of my notebook — shine.

The Davenports is inspired by instances of Black success I encountered on a journey to discover the history behind a photograph. The determined and passionate young Black women are the representation I wish I had as a young reader and the driving force behind my novel.

I’m honored to be their vehicle.