De'Shawn Charles Winslow

De'Shawn Charles Winslow writes literary fiction about Black life, memory, and tightly connected communities in rural North Carolina. Decent People returns to the fictional town of West Mills in 1976, where Josephine Wright investigates the deaths of three siblings after local authorities show little urgency. The novel expands the setting introduced in Winslow’s debut, In West Mills, while shifting toward the structure of a community mystery. Bloomsbury published both books. In West Mills won the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and an American Book Award, establishing the town, families, and long histories that the later novel revisits. Winslow studied at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and draws multiple viewpoints into concise narratives. Decent People uses Josephine’s questions to uncover old disputes, unequal treatment, and conflicts hidden beneath neighborly respectability. It can stand alone, but familiarity with West Mills gives added depth to returning families and the community’s accumulated history.