About the Author

Terry Roberts is the author of three celebrated novels: A Short Time to Stay Here (winner of the Willie Morris Prize for Southern Fiction and the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction); That Bright Land (winner of the Thomas Wolfe Literary Award, the James Still Award for Writing About the Appalachian South and the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction); and most recently, The Holy Ghost Speakeasy and Revival (a finalist for the 2019 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction).


Roberts is a lifelong teacher and educational reformer as well as an award-winning novelist. He is a native of the mountains of Western North Carolina—born and bred. His ancestors include six generations of mountain farmers, as well as the bootleggers and preachers who appear in his novels. He was raised close by his grandmother, Belva Anderson Roberts, who was born in 1888 and passed down to him the magic of the past along with the grit and humor of mountain storytelling.


Currently, Roberts is the Director of the National Paideia Center and lives in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife, Lynn.

Reviews

"[My Mistress' Eyes are Raven Black] is pure entertainment–think Raymond Chandler or, perhaps, an Appalachian James Lee Burke. At the same time, the book confronts the reader with important questions about American immigration policies and race. Set at Ellis Island in the early 1920s, it is nonetheless sharply relevant in today's America." —Wayne Caldwell, Author of Cataloochee
"Terry Roberts has a knack for exploring the forgotten corners of American history—and then shining a light on the moral ambiguities he finds there. And he knows how to tell a story. This one has all the right ingredients: fascinating setting, winning characters, mystery, real suspense, and romance. I thoroughly enjoyed it." —Julia Franks, Author of Over the Plain Houses
"Terry Roberts' new novel is a literary thriller of the highest order: lyrical and suspenseful, with characters you will long remember. This is a heart-pounding, timely, and completely immersive read. It's also Roberts' finest hour." —Silas House, author of Southernmost
"In My Mistress’ Eyes Are Raven Black Terry Roberts expands his fictional world as never before, from the mountains of North Carolina to Ellis Island, the heart and soul of America. Roberts tells a story of mystery, intrigue, murder, bigotry, and romance. With homage to the masters of crime fiction, Cain, Thompson, Chandler, and the Hammett of The Thin Man, this novel has thrilling action, and humor, as it addresses both the racism and humanity in our culture, in 1920, and the present." —Robert Morgan, Author of Gap Creek and Chasing the North Star
My Mistress’ Eyes Are Raven Black is a suspenseful and original historical novel—an amalgam of twisted psychologies and cloak-and-dagger nostalgia with a teasing, passionate romance." —Foreword Reviews (starred review)
Creating a 'page-turner' has always seemed to me to require something beyond writing. An author may be an excellent wordsmith, have brilliant ideas, and yet never achieve the deep understanding of human psychology or the precise timing and rhythm that is needed to hook a reader. My Mistress’ Eyes Are Raven Black is a true page-turner." —The Southern Bookseller Review
"[My Mistress' Eyes are Raven Black] illuminates stereotypes and assumptions about who deserved to immigrate to America during this dark chapter of history." —Booklist
"[An] impressive historical thriller." —Publishers Weekly
"In My Mistress’ Eyes Are Raven Black, Terry Roberts expertly blends the thriller and romance genres to tell a timely story about the terrifying extent to which some people will go to assuage their fear of 'the Other.' I couldn’t put this book down." —Washington Independent Review of Books
“Part detective story, part romance, part social commentary, the book builds to a satisfying conclusion and leaves the reader to ponder the larger societal issues.” —Historical Novel Society