Creatures Here Below (A Novel)

The bonds of a makeshift family are tested in this emotional slice of life novel from the author of The Colored Garden.

“Bennett brings an African-American community to vivid life with strong and compelling characters and narrative themes to match—growing up, the struggles of parenthood and young adulthood, the responsibilities we all have to each other as people. . . . Bennett handles the multiple plot lines with grace and skill.” —Publishers Weekly

Gail Neighbors is a hardworking Indiana single mom raising two very different boys. There’s Tyler, the youngest. He’s a high achiever who sings in the church choir and has a solid relationship with his very present father. Mason, on the other hand, is the oldest and is struggling. He is haunted by the ghost of a father who ran off a long time ago, and it’s driving him off the rails.

Meanwhile, to make ends meet, Gail rents out two rooms. Her tenants are Annie, an elderly woman slowly slipping away from reality, and Jackie, a single twenty-year-old overwhelmed by new motherhood. Together, they are a surrogate family. 

But life may soon drive them apart. Mason runs away, desperately searching for his father in hopes of confronting him, but there’s no telling what will happen when he does . . .

“Bennett’s characters become likeable in their frailties and failures and the back-and-forth ripens into a welcome addition. Grab this book. . . . Creatures Here Below is a novel you will be talking about.” —Philadelphia Tribune

“An accomplished and compelling novel. . . . The characters are layered and complex and relationships are beautifully interwoven. They offer hope in spite of broken dreams, and redemption. Invest some time in their company and you will be rewarded.” —Pank 

“Bennett diligently anatomizes both the antagonisms and love relationships of single-family households, pushing well beyond formulas and racial stereotypes.” —Kirkus Reviews