Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for gifting me a digital ARC of the new book by Jesmyn Ward - 4 stars!
Annis was sold south by her white master, who was also her father. She along with her slaves had to walk from the Carolinas to New Orleans, to a sugar plantation. Desperate for comfort, she turns to memories of her mother and the stories she told Annis of her African warrior grandmother. As she endures unimaginable horrors along the way and once at the plantation, those stories help keep her spirit strong.
This is a gorgeously-written book and highlights the atrocities of slavery. Every time I read a book like this or one that talks about the Holocaust, I'm embarrassed to be a member of the same human race that could treat others in these ways. It's difficult to sit in a nice home with easy access to food and comfort, and read about people so starved and mistreated. The only part of the book that I struggled with was a lot of the magical realism of Annis talking to her spirit ancestors, because there was a lot of that. But even those parts are beautifully written, and show the talent of the author. A book with much for us to learn from.
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