kaknudsen 's review for:

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

4.5

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Jesmyn Ward can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. She is right alongside Toni Morrison when it comes to Black authors who articulate Black history with exquisite poetry and pain. I loved Ward's framing for this book--a sort of Dante's inferno set in the American south circa early 1800s. I also love the merging of historical fact and magical realism--another reminder of Morrison.