Gail Lukasik's Blog

 

After my book White Like Her was published something unexpected happened.

Strangers started telling me their family secrets.

I realized I was part of an ever-expanding community of people who have discovered that they are not who they thought they were.

We all believe what our parents tell us about our families. I did.

Sometimes what they don’t tell us is the real story.

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“Gail Lukasik’s writing is masterful, inspiring, and fearless.” –Kenyatta D. Berry, author of The Family Tree Toolkit and host of PBS’s Genealogy Roadshow.

“In What They Never Told Us, Gail Lukasik unveils hidden truths about identity, race, and family heritage that resonate with anyone curious about their roots. It’s a book that stays with you, making you reflect on the complexities of your own identity long after you’ve turned the last page.” —Tom Mason, Director, Redglass Pictures

“A remarkab...

If you’d like me to speak to your book group, library or organization, please contact me via my contact page. My teaching and public speaking experience includes writing workshops, lectures on race and racial passing, historical and Gothic fiction, research, and how to write mysteries, memoirs, and poetry.

“Author Lukasik delivers an engaging concoction, set in 1918, that consists of all the right ingredients: a young nurse protagonist with a puzzle in her past, a creepy and isolated island setting, an old creaky mansion that rivals Manderley, a colorful and suspiciously sinister supporting cast, and the discoveries of a corpse or two. Atmospheric and poetic, this is a tale that will keep you turning the pages until you reach the final, startling revelation.”

–Raymond Benson, official author of th...

A Ghostly Window Into the Past

Nurse Nellie Lester can’t escape death. Fleeing Chicago at the height of the 1918 Spanish flu, she takes a nursing job at a decrepit mansion on a desolate Michigan island. She’s convinced the island holds the key to her mother’s murky past. The only problem? Her dead mother seems to have followed her there. Nightly she’s haunted by a ghostly presence that appears in her bedroom. But is it her mother or something more sinister? Read more

Available September 5, 2023...

“Atmospheric and poetic, this is a tale that will keep you turning the pages until you reach the final, startling revelation.”

–Raymond Benson, official author of the James Bond novels and The

 ___ White Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing By Gail Lukasik Foreword by Kenyatta D. Berry White Like Her optioned for TV Series by FGW Productions. The Washington Post named White Like Her one of the most inspiring stories of 2017. White Like Her tells the story of my mother’s passing, my struggle with the shame of her choice, and my subsequent inner journey of self-discovery and redemption. In the historical context of the Jim Crow South, I explore my mother’s decision to ...