Bernice L. McFadden is the award-winning author of Firstborn Girls and nine critically acclaimed novels including Sugar; Loving Donovan; Nowhere Is a Place; The Warmest December; Gathering of Waters (a New York Times Editors' Choice and one of the 100 Notable Books of 2012); and Glorious, which was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine and was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award. She is a four-time Hurston/Wright Legacy Award finalist, as well as the recipient of three awards from the BCALA. McFadden lives in Brooklyn, New York.