QPBC New Voices Award winner Jervey Tervalon authors scintillating works of African-American fiction. Spellbinding, luminous, and richly atmospheric, Dead Above Ground tells the story of the wealthy Du Champs family of New Orleans. Helen, the matriarch, rules over her daughters Adele and Lita with an iron will. But Adele has fallen in love with smooth operator Lucien, who, unbeknownst to her, means to settle a decades-old score with her mother.