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4.6 AVERAGE
4.6 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The best book I have read in a long time. I started reading it on the Libby app then I went and brought the ebook and physical book that is how amazing this book is. It bounce between present day and the time period before emancipation. The author does a beautiful job of depicting how the past influences/impacts our present. The book is lengthy which I absolutely LOVED. This allowed the author to really develop the characters so that we could understand what was going on in the plot.
Ms. Jeffers says in her acknowledgments that she is “here on this earth to tend Ancestral altars.” Her muse in particular is W.E.B. Du Bois: “My novel isn’t based on his life, but rather on the lives of the inhabitants of one (fictitious) town in Georgia, a place he lived for years.”
This is an elegy for an American family line that weaves the cultures of a West African Muslim village, the Creek tribe, and the 18th century European settlers who stole the land from the indigenous and became slave owners.
In the present day, Ailey is a young girl growing up in Baltimore who is grappling with the joys and strains of her loving family, in both the north and in Chicasetta, Georgia.
I loved the time jumps between Ailey and her ancestors as the story unfolds. It is a multi-faceted way to grapple with the oppression and suffering and all that was lost. Ailey gains clarity as her intellectual understanding blossoms. The colorism, racism, and sexism woven into US history comes into focus too, for me as the reader. Ailey recognizes the beauty and power of her legacy, their songs. Her agency is positive and hopeful.
This is an elegy for an American family line that weaves the cultures of a West African Muslim village, the Creek tribe, and the 18th century European settlers who stole the land from the indigenous and became slave owners.
In the present day, Ailey is a young girl growing up in Baltimore who is grappling with the joys and strains of her loving family, in both the north and in Chicasetta, Georgia.
I loved the time jumps between Ailey and her ancestors as the story unfolds. It is a multi-faceted way to grapple with the oppression and suffering and all that was lost. Ailey gains clarity as her intellectual understanding blossoms. The colorism, racism, and sexism woven into US history comes into focus too, for me as the reader. Ailey recognizes the beauty and power of her legacy, their songs. Her agency is positive and hopeful.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A gorgeous Black Feminist novel. Told through multiple generations, narrators, and even ancestral guides, this remarkable book is not to be missed. As a scholar myself, I particularly loved Ailey and Uncle Root. I will think about this book frequently and fondly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault
Yes, this book is dark and full of tragedy and suffering but it is also so beautiful and deep. I think about free will a lot, especially while reading and this book illustrates the lack of it so well.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No