Tuesday, May 14, 2024

5.14.2024 - Long After We Are Gone

Long After We Are Gone by Terah Shelton Harris

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for gifting me a digital ARC of the new book by Terah Shelton Harris.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

"Don't let the white man take the house."  Those were the last words King Soloman says to his son before he dies.  The Kingdom, their ancestral home in North Carolina, is now being threatened.  All four Soloman siblings must fight together to save their home, as well as the secrets each are keeping from each other and themselves.  Junior, the oldest son and married to his wife for 11 years, is secretly in love with another man. Second son, Mance, can't control his temper, which has landed him in prison more than once. CeCe, the oldest daughter and a lawyer in New York City, has embezzled thousands of dollars from her firm's clients. Youngest daughter, Tokey, wonders why she doesn't seem to fit into this family, which has left an aching hole in her heart that she tries to fill in harmful ways. 

This was a beautifully-written family saga with perfectly imperfect characters just trying to live up to their legacy without destroying themselves.  It's about the power of family and generational trauma, and mostly about communication - the troubles that come about when we don't communicate as well as the power of passing down stories.  It's an eye-opening look into another way that Blacks in the south lost their family lands - be sure to read the author's note on that subject.  Highly recommended!


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