7.8 /10 1 Votes
Language English Pages 348 pp OCLC 51622275 Publisher Akashic Books | 3.9/5 Goodreads Publication date 2003 ISBN 1-888451-41-6 Originally published 1 April 2003 Genre Novel Country United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (Hardcover or Paperback) Nominations Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original Similar The necessary hunger, The Age of Dreaming, Wingshooters, Lost Canyon, Literature for Life | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Southland is a Los Angeles Times best-selling novel and "Best book of 2003" by Nina Revoyr. It focuses on quest for the past and present of racial justice in Los Angeles. The novel is also a Book Sense 76 pick, an Edgar Award finalist, and the winner of the Ferro-Grumley Award and the Lambda Literary Award. Publishers Weekly called it "Compelling... never lacking in detail and authentic atmosphere, the novel cements Revoyr's reputation as one of the freshest young chroniclers of life in L.A.
The novel is a murder mystery novel taking place in Los Angeles between the 40’s and 90’s at a time when discrimination and racism were at an all-time high. Revoyr features many historic references happening in Los Angeles’s past dealing with racial issues and uses character interactions to drive these points. Frank Sakai and Curtis Martindale are two characters whose life is affected by the racism in the Los Angeles neighborhoods.