Beverly Jenkins, born in 1951 in Detroit, is an American author who writes historical and contemporary romance novels. Her books often focus on the lives of African Americans in the 19th century. In 2013, she was nominated for a NAACP Image Award. In 1999, she was listed as one of the Top 50 Favorite African American writers of the 20th century by the African American Literature Book Club. Jenkins’s historical romance novels are set during a time in African American history that she believes is often forgotten. This made it hard for her to get published because publishers did not know how to handle stories about African Americans that did not include slavery. Jenkins studied Journalism and English Literature at Michigan State University. She currently lives in Southeastern Michigan.
Early life
Jenkins was born in Detroit in 1951 to her parents, a high school teacher and an office helper. Jenkins grew up around words. Her mother read to her while she was in the womb and gave her soft books when she was a baby. Jenkins would chew on the soft books while her mother encouraged her to "Eat those words, baby. Eat those words." Jenkins read many books at her local library, including Alice in Wonderland, Dune, Zane Grey, and works by early romance writers such as Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, and Phyllis A. Whitney. She started writing when she became the editor of her elementary school newspaper. Jenkins attended Michigan State University in the spring of 1969.
Career
Jenkins worked full-time in the checkout department of the Michigan State University library. During each lunch break, she read articles from The Journal of Negro History (now called The Journal of African American History). Later, Jenkins and her husband moved to Ypsilanti, where she worked at the reference desk of Parke Davis Pharmaceuticals and began writing romance novels as a hobby. After a colleague suggested she find an agent and publisher, Jenkins sent her manuscript to Vivian Stephens, who agreed to help her. Avon published her first novel, Night Song, in 1994.
Although Jenkins has written books in many types of romance stories, most of her books are historical romances. Jenkins calls herself a "kitchen table historian." She compares American history to a quilt with some pieces missing—the pieces that belong to minority history. Jenkins uses her books to add those missing pieces by sharing stories about Black history that are rarely taught in school. Slavery and the Civil Rights Movement are important parts of African American history, but there are many other parts as well. For example, her first three novels, Night Song, Vivid, and Indigo, include characters like a schoolteacher, a cavalry officer, a female doctor, and heroes of the Underground Railroad. These characters were inspired by real historical events.
Jenkins found inspiration for her book Forbidden from two historical events. First, she read a news article about a high-end African American-owned hotel discovered during an archaeological dig in Virginia City. She also heard a story about a man who saw a Black woman walking through the desert carrying a cook stove on her head. Jenkins includes bibliographies in her historical romance books so readers can learn more about the topics if they choose.
Awards
In 1996, the book was nominated for the Romantic Times Historical Love and Laughter award. In 1999, the book won the Romantic Times Western Historical Romance award. In 2000, the book won the Romantic Times Multicultural Romance award. In 2007, the author was nominated for the Romantic Times Historical Storyteller of the Year award. In 2010, the novel A Second Helping won the Romantic Times Multicultural Fiction Novel award. In 2011, the novel Something Old, Something New won the Romantic Times Multicultural Romance award. In 2013, the novel Destiny's Embrace won the Romantic Times American-Set Historical Romance award. In 2013, the novel A Wish and a Prayer was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Literature. In 2016, the novel Forbidden won the Romantic Times Historical Romance award. In 2017, the author received the RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award.