5 Detroit-centered books to add to your summer reading list

BridgeDetroit highlighted five recently released books by or about Detroit, featuring historical novels, memoirs, and a political guide. Ruta Sepetys, a New York Times bestselling Detroit native, discussed her novel "A Fortune of Sand" set in 1920s Grosse Pointe at a June 3 panel at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, sharing how she drew inspiration from Detroit's history as an artistic and industrial hub and her childhood discovery of hidden speakeasies in local mansions. She spent five to seven years researching the book, visiting the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, and other local institutions.

Other featured authors include Donna Givens Davidson, who published two books in 2025—the novel "Divining Freedom" tracing five generations of Black Detroiters from 1898 to present, and the nonfiction "Black Detroit Democracy Handbook." Davidson, president and CEO of Eastside Community Network, wrote her debut novel as a tribute to her mother. André Ebron and Lisa Peers also contributed memoirs and romance novels with Detroit connections, all available through major booksellers and local retailers like the newly opened Howard Family Bookstore.