Mother Emanuel

“Mother Emanuel is a masterpiece … Sack, a former reporter for The New York Times, delivers a dense, rich, captivating narrative, featuring vivid prose, prodigious research and a palpable emotional engagement that is disciplined by a meticulous attention to the facts. His excavation is an essential addition to existing histories and ought to be recognized as a singular journalistic performance … [Sack’s] pages teem with information often eloquently conveyed, leaving his readers as enthralled as he is with his expansive, inspiring and hugely important subject.”—The New York Times“All at once Kevin Sack’s Mother Emanuel is harrowing, despairing and inspiring. From a moment-by-moment account of the evening of the massacre to a final, brilliant discussion of the meaning of forgiveness in Christianity and other traditions, Sack writes lyrically, from deep research, and with an unforgettable message about tragedy and resilience.”—David W. Blight, Pulitzer prize-winning author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom“[Mother Emanuel is a] searching history of the Charleston church brought into the headlines by mass murder … A sobering, expertly told history of the struggle for equality as waged from pulpit and pew.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review“ Big in historical scale but granular in personal detail, Mother Emanuel transcends the church of its title and the crime that made it famous. It feels like a monument to Black America that takes the form of a book.”—Edward Ball, National Book Award winning author of Slaves in the Family and author of Life of a Klansman“Good writers are a pleasure to read. Great ones are so evocative that you often tingle to get to the next page. Veteran journalist Kevin Sack’s new book, Mother Emanuel, is the latter, a masterpiece of great reporting, writing and storytelling.”—Charleston City Paper“This book shook me with its power and beauty. Kevin Sack tells the story of a moment of racial terror that turned into an opportunity for grace—and from that terrible story produces an insightful and inspiring work of history. Mother Emanuel is a book of enormous ambition, meticulously researched, gorgeously written, and deeply fulfilling.”—Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer prize-winning author of King: A Life“Race, religion, and terror combine for an extraordinary story of America, the resilience of a people, and their capacity to forgive in order to live with unimaginable grief. A powerful book—especially for times such as these.”—Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., bestselling author of Begin Again“In Mother Emanuel, Kevin Sack offers a deeply researched, eloquent page-turner, taking us from colonization and the African slave trade to modern times. Along the way, we feel the myriad ways the past still weighs on us, and we meet visionaries inspired by a more generous Bible, and a more democratic America, than the ones they inherited.”—Melissa Fay Greene, author of Praying for Sheetrock and The Temple Bombing“Breathtaking and beautiful!”—Marcia Chatelain, author of Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America

Kevin Sack is a veteran journalist who has written about national affairs for more than four decades and has been part of three Pulitzer Prize–winning teams. A native of Jacksonville, Florida, and a graduate of Duke University, he spent thirty years on the staff of The New York Times, where he specialized in writing long-form narrative and investigative reports, often related to race. He has also written for the Los Angeles Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and his work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine. He was a 2019 Emerson Collective Fellow at New America.