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The Fervent Whites
Not yet published
Expected 9 Jun 26Guilt, shame, and suspicion swirl as a small community in upstate New York turns on itself in this moody, propulsive thriller from the award-winning writer of In West Mills.
The year is 1982, and the people of the Hudson Valley community of Fervent have begun to move on from a homicide that upended the once quiet town. When the former neighbors who were convicted of the crime, James and Ella White, are proven innocent, released from prison, and return to Fervent, some people have cause for concern.
Sylvia Upshaw and her best friend, Lafayette “Fate” Jolly, are uneasy about the Whites’ return. While the Whites were incarcerated, Sylvia revealed an explosive secret to their adopted son, Morgan, with devastating consequences. During the murder trial, Fate’s testimony helped seal their fate. James and Ella won’t let the betrayals go unpunished. Sylvia and Fate quickly become victims of harassment from the Whites, and when another murder is committed in Fervent, the town is left to fend for itself.
Intimate and chilling, The Fervent Whites examines how small communities with long-simmering tensions behave when pushed to the limits of civility.
The year is 1982, and the people of the Hudson Valley community of Fervent have begun to move on from a homicide that upended the once quiet town. When the former neighbors who were convicted of the crime, James and Ella White, are proven innocent, released from prison, and return to Fervent, some people have cause for concern.
Sylvia Upshaw and her best friend, Lafayette “Fate” Jolly, are uneasy about the Whites’ return. While the Whites were incarcerated, Sylvia revealed an explosive secret to their adopted son, Morgan, with devastating consequences. During the murder trial, Fate’s testimony helped seal their fate. James and Ella won’t let the betrayals go unpunished. Sylvia and Fate quickly become victims of harassment from the Whites, and when another murder is committed in Fervent, the town is left to fend for itself.
Intimate and chilling, The Fervent Whites examines how small communities with long-simmering tensions behave when pushed to the limits of civility.
208 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication June 9, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4 stars
Small town living at its most insidious! This is my first experience with this author, and it has been a delight. I loved the title of this book, and fortunately everything that comes after that is pretty great, too!
The town of Fervent is small, so everyone is in each other's business, and this is especially pronounced when it comes to people's identities, though their actions aren't too far behind. Sylvia, or Syl, shares many of her thoughts both with readers and with characters on some uncertainty around the return of a couple from the neighborhood who were imprisoned after being found guilty of a serious crime. While indisposed, their family experiences another kind of tragedy. Syl and her best friend, who is nicknamed Fate, are the primary vehicle through which readers learn information and observe at first, and there are some shifts to that throughout the novel. What never changes is that these characters are riding around with some serious secrets, gross opinions and ideas, and a few opportunities to become real menaces in each other's lives.
This is a short novel, and ideally it moves quickly but somehow also features developed, intriguing characters and situations: really a perfect match. I enjoyed this read very much, except for the part where it's set in the early '80s but reflects some of the disturbed attitudes people still somehow have now (uh...figure it out). That's a this country problem, though, not a this book issue at all.
I'm looking forward to reading more from this author, and I expect I'll be thinking about this one.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Erica Hernandez at Random House for this widget, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Small town living at its most insidious! This is my first experience with this author, and it has been a delight. I loved the title of this book, and fortunately everything that comes after that is pretty great, too!
The town of Fervent is small, so everyone is in each other's business, and this is especially pronounced when it comes to people's identities, though their actions aren't too far behind. Sylvia, or Syl, shares many of her thoughts both with readers and with characters on some uncertainty around the return of a couple from the neighborhood who were imprisoned after being found guilty of a serious crime. While indisposed, their family experiences another kind of tragedy. Syl and her best friend, who is nicknamed Fate, are the primary vehicle through which readers learn information and observe at first, and there are some shifts to that throughout the novel. What never changes is that these characters are riding around with some serious secrets, gross opinions and ideas, and a few opportunities to become real menaces in each other's lives.
This is a short novel, and ideally it moves quickly but somehow also features developed, intriguing characters and situations: really a perfect match. I enjoyed this read very much, except for the part where it's set in the early '80s but reflects some of the disturbed attitudes people still somehow have now (uh...figure it out). That's a this country problem, though, not a this book issue at all.
I'm looking forward to reading more from this author, and I expect I'll be thinking about this one.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Erica Hernandez at Random House for this widget, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I read the author’s debut novel, In West Mills, and was impressed then as I am now. First, this is a propulsive thriller excellently paced but it is underlying theme that friendship is about the person not the color and those who cannot accept the color are tragedies for their loss of it that resonates.
It’s 1982 and James and Ella White have been exonerated for the killing of Paul Hope and released from jail. They decide to return to Fervent, a small subdivision outside NYC, which is unsettling for many of its residents. The Whites are white, a minority in the area, but they had adopted a black child, Morgan, so were accepted, though they were both known for their tempers. Sylvia “Syl” Upshaw and her friend Lafayette “Fate” Jolly are black and are neighbors of the Whites. They have observed that the Whites don’t seem to know, in their opinion, how to raise a black child. When Morgan’s parents are imprisoned, a secret about his parentage is revealed. Morgan dies in an accident and the Whites learn the secret of his birth was revealed and are out for vengeance.
I loved the characters in this book - even the Whites. They are excellently drawn and developed. The story unfolds dramatically as we watch Syl and Fate worry about retribution but intervening events bring a few red herrings to the story. Mrs. Talbot was probably my favorite because she was afraid to speak up against discrimination. And the writing flowed so well.
I enjoyed the read and highly recommend.
I’d like to thank NetGalley and Old World/Random House for allowing me to read this ARC.
It’s 1982 and James and Ella White have been exonerated for the killing of Paul Hope and released from jail. They decide to return to Fervent, a small subdivision outside NYC, which is unsettling for many of its residents. The Whites are white, a minority in the area, but they had adopted a black child, Morgan, so were accepted, though they were both known for their tempers. Sylvia “Syl” Upshaw and her friend Lafayette “Fate” Jolly are black and are neighbors of the Whites. They have observed that the Whites don’t seem to know, in their opinion, how to raise a black child. When Morgan’s parents are imprisoned, a secret about his parentage is revealed. Morgan dies in an accident and the Whites learn the secret of his birth was revealed and are out for vengeance.
I loved the characters in this book - even the Whites. They are excellently drawn and developed. The story unfolds dramatically as we watch Syl and Fate worry about retribution but intervening events bring a few red herrings to the story. Mrs. Talbot was probably my favorite because she was afraid to speak up against discrimination. And the writing flowed so well.
I enjoyed the read and highly recommend.
I’d like to thank NetGalley and Old World/Random House for allowing me to read this ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you NetGalley, Random House/One Word and De'Shawn Charles Winslow for providing me an ARC of this book.
I savored this read even though I am not usually one to read thrillers or suspense. I decided to give it a try after reading the description and liking both the title and cover. This was my first time reading a book by De'Shawn Charles Winslow and I will now give more of his work a chance.
The book is well written and the characters are compelling and well developed. I found myself yelling a couple times at characters and had fun annotating my copy with what I thought might happen, who did or did not do this and that. Syl was my favorite character and the Whites got my blood boiling! I particularly loved how the topics of transracial adoption and racism are weaved through the narrative. It felt effortless and left me wanting to read more works doing similar things with as much skill as De'Shawn Charles Winslow's.
The only thing that pushed my rating of The Fervent Whites below 5 stars was the repetition. Events in the book are not told in a linear fashion. This resulted in information being repeated more often than I would have liked. It unfortunately felt like I was being hit over the head with it. Otherwise, I devoured this book. I felt like a fly on the wall watching this small town in the 1980s imploding from until then unspoken and insidious tensions.
I highly recommend this book, even if you are not usually interested in suspense and thrillers.
I savored this read even though I am not usually one to read thrillers or suspense. I decided to give it a try after reading the description and liking both the title and cover. This was my first time reading a book by De'Shawn Charles Winslow and I will now give more of his work a chance.
The book is well written and the characters are compelling and well developed. I found myself yelling a couple times at characters and had fun annotating my copy with what I thought might happen, who did or did not do this and that. Syl was my favorite character and the Whites got my blood boiling! I particularly loved how the topics of transracial adoption and racism are weaved through the narrative. It felt effortless and left me wanting to read more works doing similar things with as much skill as De'Shawn Charles Winslow's.
The only thing that pushed my rating of The Fervent Whites below 5 stars was the repetition. Events in the book are not told in a linear fashion. This resulted in information being repeated more often than I would have liked. It unfortunately felt like I was being hit over the head with it. Otherwise, I devoured this book. I felt like a fly on the wall watching this small town in the 1980s imploding from until then unspoken and insidious tensions.
I highly recommend this book, even if you are not usually interested in suspense and thrillers.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A small town in the 1980s, a wrongful conviction, and the return of the people everyone believed were guilty created that tense and uneasy feeling I look for in a mystery. It felt like the kind of story where everything is already fragile and just waiting to fall apart.
What I enjoyed most was how much it focused on relationships and consequences, not just the mystery itself. The history between Sylvia, Fate, and the Whites added real depth, and you could feel that tension in every interaction. It really showed how past choices do not just disappear and can come back in ways that affect everyone involved. That made the story feel more personal.
The small town setting also stood out to me. It had that familiar feeling where everyone knows each other, but there are still secrets underneath the surface. When the second murder happens, it felt less like a surprise and more like everything had been building up to that moment.
Overall, this was an engaging and chilling read that kept my interest from beginning to end. It balanced suspense with emotional tension in a way that made it feel layered and real. If you enjoy small town thrillers with complicated relationships and lingering secrets, this is definitely worth picking up.
Thanks Netgalley and Random House | One World for the ARC and opportunity to provide an honest review.
What I enjoyed most was how much it focused on relationships and consequences, not just the mystery itself. The history between Sylvia, Fate, and the Whites added real depth, and you could feel that tension in every interaction. It really showed how past choices do not just disappear and can come back in ways that affect everyone involved. That made the story feel more personal.
The small town setting also stood out to me. It had that familiar feeling where everyone knows each other, but there are still secrets underneath the surface. When the second murder happens, it felt less like a surprise and more like everything had been building up to that moment.
Overall, this was an engaging and chilling read that kept my interest from beginning to end. It balanced suspense with emotional tension in a way that made it feel layered and real. If you enjoy small town thrillers with complicated relationships and lingering secrets, this is definitely worth picking up.
Thanks Netgalley and Random House | One World for the ARC and opportunity to provide an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Syl, a Black woman, doesn't like her White neighbors, James and Ella White. She strongly believes their adopted Black son, Morgan, should be raised by Black parents. When James and Ella are released from prison for being wrongly accused of murder and return to the town of Fervent, tensions escalate. They have rude, violent, and intolerant tendencies. They have questions about how Morgan died while they were in prison, and Syl is hoping they don't discover her connection to the unfortunate accident.
I was grateful to receive an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. I enjoyed the premise and overlapping plot points. It is important to have books such as this that contribute to conversations of racial tensions and mixed race adoptions.
While I found the foundation to be strong, its execution was lacking. There was too much "telling" instead of "showing". I needed more sensory descriptions to be sucked in and convinced. Many parts were overexplained. I would've been more intrigued if the author had let me infer conclusions, instead of spelling them out. I believe this could be a strong, thrilling book if these edits were made.
I was grateful to receive an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. I enjoyed the premise and overlapping plot points. It is important to have books such as this that contribute to conversations of racial tensions and mixed race adoptions.
While I found the foundation to be strong, its execution was lacking. There was too much "telling" instead of "showing". I needed more sensory descriptions to be sucked in and convinced. Many parts were overexplained. I would've been more intrigued if the author had let me infer conclusions, instead of spelling them out. I believe this could be a strong, thrilling book if these edits were made.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel! I was instantly captivated by the drama unfolding in this small town in upstate New York during the 1980s. The characters were incredibly engaging, and the mystery element kept me eagerly turning the pages.
The story begins with two former residents of Fervent returning home after serving time for a crime they didn’t commit. As they navigate their way back into their former community, they find themselves entangled in a complex web of relationships and secrets. The story unfolds with a rich tapestry of characters, each with their own unique struggles and motivations.
I I particularly enjoyed the friendship between Syl and Fate. Although the book takes a darker turn toward the end, it ultimately unfolds as a redemptive story that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Thank you to NetGalley and One Word for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. The book will be released on June 9, 2026.
The story begins with two former residents of Fervent returning home after serving time for a crime they didn’t commit. As they navigate their way back into their former community, they find themselves entangled in a complex web of relationships and secrets. The story unfolds with a rich tapestry of characters, each with their own unique struggles and motivations.
I I particularly enjoyed the friendship between Syl and Fate. Although the book takes a darker turn toward the end, it ultimately unfolds as a redemptive story that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Thank you to NetGalley and One Word for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. The book will be released on June 9, 2026.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
What an insidious little book this is!
In The Fervent Whites the author puts us into a small town - charming on the outside with something very rotten on the inside.
While bigotry - both racism and homophobia - is present here, the story is, at its heart, a thriller that explores what happens when someone tries to do what they think is right, only to end up doing it to just the wrong people.
The writing is taut, leaving you on edge. It also brings you some interesting moral quandaries, specifically about a secret shared. Part of me understood why the secret was shared. Part of me said that these people needed to mind their own business.
I really enjoyed this and would happily read the author again!
In The Fervent Whites the author puts us into a small town - charming on the outside with something very rotten on the inside.
While bigotry - both racism and homophobia - is present here, the story is, at its heart, a thriller that explores what happens when someone tries to do what they think is right, only to end up doing it to just the wrong people.
The writing is taut, leaving you on edge. It also brings you some interesting moral quandaries, specifically about a secret shared. Part of me understood why the secret was shared. Part of me said that these people needed to mind their own business.
I really enjoyed this and would happily read the author again!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is a fascinating novel about a murder and the complications of racial bigotry. James and Ella are released from prison after being declared innocent of Paul Hope's murder. But while they were incarcerated, their adopted black son, Morgan was killed. Neighbor, Sylvia knows a secret about them and is unsure what to do about it Should the neighbors take sides? What really happened as it a clear case of black vs. white? Go in blind and get ready for a great read!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
February 28, 2026
This book has a lot of potential. The characters are interesting, especially Sylvia, who is fully developed into a multifaceted character. I wish the same were true for the supporting characters, like Fate, who seemed a bit too one dimensional. I also wish the pacing was quicker. For example, the start promises a big reveal of a secret, but it takes too long for the reveal and the secret itself is anticlimactic. I do like the writer’s style: vibrant and conversational.
ARC from NetGalley
ARC from NetGalley
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you, Penguin Random House, for providing the copy of The Fervent Whites by De'Shawn Charles Winslow. I loved the idea of this book, but events unfolded so slowly it took a while to get engaged in the story. I would have loved a separate timeline for the events in the past, instead of characters telling someone what happened. I liked the characters and how they interacted. I loved how the book ended! It wasn’t a surprise, but it was fitting. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews