They Will Know Our Names

About this book

Two friends, bound by music but separated by the Jim Crow-era color line, endure the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of life in this moving novel from the acclaimed author of O Sinners! and Dances Hal Jansen, the artistic, sensitive youngest son of a successful department store executive, has just dropped out of college to begin a burgeoning folk music career when he stumbles into a chance performance by blues prodigy Rudy Amos. Amidst the political turmoil of the 1960's, the two immediately strike up a profound camaraderie and begin to write songs as letters to each other, as a way of transmuting all of their tribulations into music. Over decades--through addiction, mental health crises, societal expectations, profound personal loss, failed marriages--the pair's brotherhood sees them through as they put everything on the line for their dreams. Set against the backdrop of a changing America, They Will Know Our Names is a lyrical celebration of the transformative friendships that hold us through the chaos of life and the music that keeps us going, despite it all.