Survived By

Lauren Washington is survived by her mother's murder, by her boyfriend's suicide, and by every secret she was never supposed to find.

She was nine years old when her mother was gunned down in the streets of Bankhead, Atlanta. No arrest. No explanation. The case went cold. Lauren learned early that surviving meant going numb, and that the blank pages of a diary were the only place she could safely tell the truth.

Twenty years later, Lauren has built a life that looks nothing like where she came from. As DJ Mystique, she is one of Atlanta's most recognized radio personalities...confident, successful, carefully protected behind the persona she wears like armor. Her father is proud. Her friendships are solid. Her relationship with Brendan has lasted eight years. From the outside, everything looks perfect.

But when Lauren begins asking questions about her mother's murder, everything shifts. The people closest to her grow uneasy. Her father becomes quiet in ways she hasn't seen since she was nine. And Brendan, the man she has loved for nearly a decade, starts pulling away in ways she can't explain. Before she can make sense of any of it, he takes his own life. And in death, he leaves Lauren with something far worse than heartbreak: the truth behind the man she thought she knew.

Survived By is a story about the weight the living are left to carry. About grief without answers, love without closure, secrets that outlast the people who kept them, and the long, painful, necessary work of finally choosing yourself.

Set in Atlanta, Georgia in 2007, Survived By is a compelling work of literary fiction that explores Black womanhood, survival, and the cost of loving people who are still hiding from themselves.