Bebe Moore Campbell, a best-selling novelist known for her empathetic treatment of the difficult, intertwined and occasionally surprising relationship between the races, died yesterday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 56. The New York Times obit reports that her death resulted from complications of brain cancer. Campbell burst on the scene with YOUR BLUES AIN'T LIKE MINE (1992) which was inspired by the murder of Emmett Till, and followed it up with many more novels for adults (published by Putnam) and two for children (most recently 2006's STOMPIN' AT THE SAVOY.)

She is survived by her husband, Ellis Gordon Jr., whom she married in 1984; her mother, Doris Moore of Los Angeles; a daughter from her first marriage, Maia Campbell of Los Angeles; a stepson, Ellis Gordon III of Mitchellville, Md.; and two grandchildren.