03 August 2023

The Monsters We Defy

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope is an historical fiction novel set in 1920s DC.

Clara Johnson can talk to spirits. It was likely to happen as she was born at a crossroads. Then she made a deal with an enigma - which always comes with a trick. 

Clara has the chance to free herself of her trick if she steals a ring. She agrees, no questions asked. It is not until later that she wonders how someone in the spirit world can use a ring.

Either way, she will need a team to help with this heist. Especially after she realizes that the ring may be responsible for poor people going missing. 

Penelope has written story set during the Roaring Twenties and the Harlem Renaissance (which took place in more cities than just NYC). Read this wonderful book.

Penelope, Leslye. (2022). The Monsters We Defy. New York: Red Hook.


Clara "Carrie" Johnson was a real person. She is known for being shot in her apartment during the 1919 DC Race War, then accused of killing a police officer who broke in shooting. There were 18 bullets in her bedroom door. Her and her father both shot. Sound familiar? Like nothing much changed between Carrie Johnson in 1919 and Breonna Taylor in 2020?

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