Take a photo of a barcode or cover
informative
medium-paced
Highly readable and well-written, Gayle Jessup White's memoir of both her own life and the search for her family's roots is a brilliant page-turner from start to finish. I was riveted from the beginning, and found it hard to put down, often stealing time to read a few paragraphs or pages whenever I could.
I was fascinated by how White's journey to discover her family's lost history became more than just proving that the family's lore about their connection to Thomas Jefferson was true, focusing more on the rest of the family line and how the various pieces fit together, as well as the people themselves. The letter involving the description of Sally Robinson's terrible beatings at the hands of Martha Jefferson Randolph was one I was actually familiar with before reading this book, thanks to a women's history podcast that I listen to. The first time I heard about the contents of this letter, I was both sickened and horrified, and learning more details about it here added to those feelings even more. However, I also enjoyed learning more about Sally, and her efforts to rise above the fate her enslavers tried to consign her to over the course of her life, and the legacy she left for her descendants.
Again, this was such a brilliant book, a memoir that well and truly highlights both the good and the terrible of the American story. Definitely worth your time.
I was fascinated by how White's journey to discover her family's lost history became more than just proving that the family's lore about their connection to Thomas Jefferson was true, focusing more on the rest of the family line and how the various pieces fit together, as well as the people themselves. The letter involving the description of Sally Robinson's terrible beatings at the hands of Martha Jefferson Randolph was one I was actually familiar with before reading this book, thanks to a women's history podcast that I listen to. The first time I heard about the contents of this letter, I was both sickened and horrified, and learning more details about it here added to those feelings even more. However, I also enjoyed learning more about Sally, and her efforts to rise above the fate her enslavers tried to consign her to over the course of her life, and the legacy she left for her descendants.
Again, this was such a brilliant book, a memoir that well and truly highlights both the good and the terrible of the American story. Definitely worth your time.
Jessup White's narrative style vividly portrays her years-long path to revealing her family's truth. Her story is suspenseful at times and inspiring. Highly recommended. I listened to the audiobook skillfully read by Karen Chilton.
I would have liked more direct discussion about the conflict White obviously feels about Thomas Jefferson. On the one hand, she seems to be attached to the idea of being related to him. She works at Monticello. She wants the perks, like the ability to be considered part of FFV (First Families of Virginia), and be buried in the Monticello cemetery. She still seems kind of dazzled by Jefferson as American royalty. On the other hand, she talks about how seemingly genuine relationships between Jefferson and his enslaved servants didn't stop him from selling their kinfolk and how his sexual relationship with Sally Hemings seems to have begun when she was 14 and how she was probably a half-sister of his late wife. But she doesn't address these contradictions directly, which seem to me to lie at the heart of the matter of being his Black descendant. She speculates that Sally Hemings "exercised her limited agency to improve the lot of her descendants" but she doesn't really talk about how she feels about Sally Hemings either. Disappointing. I still think it could be an interesting conversation, though.
I am always a little in awe of people who don't set out in life to be authors but yet end up publishing a beautifully-written book that makes an important contribution. Gayle Jessup White has my highest respect for this achievement. Bravo!
This book starts out as a deeply felt memoir of one woman's personal journey to learn the truth of her family's history. Hers is an extraordinary genealogy, and how she puts it together is riveting. I was completely drawn in as she describes her parents and siblings, her early memories of them, and their individual responses to what she was uncovering. Her best gift to us, however, is not just in the thoughtful chronicling of one family story and her journey to discover it. No, her gift is in the effort she put in to place her family story into historic context. Her research sheds light on a part of America's story that sometimes generates more heat than light.
White is descended from Thomas Jefferson and from people who were enslaved by Thomas Jefferson. The truth of that is proven and highly revelatory of the miasma from which America itself was born. Our Founders didn't drop from the Heavens, deities speaking Truth from on High. They were ordinary men, intelligent and well-educated, deeply flawed and self-interested, visionary as well as myopic. They were both-and, not either-or. In my view, we can't understand America itself if we don't understand the painful messiness.
The beauty of Reclamation is in being a family story from Jefferson's time to the present. White helps us understand how slavery has affected all of American society from the Founding to today. From 3X great grandfather Peter Hemings, down through the generations to White herself, racial inequities showed up in hundreds of big and little ways. These are the insidious social and economic injustices which perhaps ebb and flow across decades but certainly persist. White's generous telling of her family story helps us see how far we have to go as a country before we reach the promise of "all men are created equal."
We have a lot of work to do. I challenge anyone who disagrees with me on that to read this book.
This book starts out as a deeply felt memoir of one woman's personal journey to learn the truth of her family's history. Hers is an extraordinary genealogy, and how she puts it together is riveting. I was completely drawn in as she describes her parents and siblings, her early memories of them, and their individual responses to what she was uncovering. Her best gift to us, however, is not just in the thoughtful chronicling of one family story and her journey to discover it. No, her gift is in the effort she put in to place her family story into historic context. Her research sheds light on a part of America's story that sometimes generates more heat than light.
White is descended from Thomas Jefferson and from people who were enslaved by Thomas Jefferson. The truth of that is proven and highly revelatory of the miasma from which America itself was born. Our Founders didn't drop from the Heavens, deities speaking Truth from on High. They were ordinary men, intelligent and well-educated, deeply flawed and self-interested, visionary as well as myopic. They were both-and, not either-or. In my view, we can't understand America itself if we don't understand the painful messiness.
The beauty of Reclamation is in being a family story from Jefferson's time to the present. White helps us understand how slavery has affected all of American society from the Founding to today. From 3X great grandfather Peter Hemings, down through the generations to White herself, racial inequities showed up in hundreds of big and little ways. These are the insidious social and economic injustices which perhaps ebb and flow across decades but certainly persist. White's generous telling of her family story helps us see how far we have to go as a country before we reach the promise of "all men are created equal."
We have a lot of work to do. I challenge anyone who disagrees with me on that to read this book.
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
This is an interesting book, although I would have liked more about Jefferson and Hemings. Also, as a genealogist, I wish there was a good family tree (with dates!) tying everyone together - the sketchy ones that are there just don’t cut it.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I recently visited Monticello so was interested to read this story. I appreciated White's desire to learn her family history and to discuss her experiences with race in America. I appreciated the opportunity to hear her story and her feelings of an important founding father who held slaves. We cannot change the past, but we should learn it, recognize it, and talk about it so we can change what we do today.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced