taratearex 's review for:

Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

5.0

---

Everything I want to say about Jesmyn Ward's books and writing just feels so inadequate, her prose is just so beautiful her books are just incredible. This book is a tough read as it's about loss and grief, but it's such an important read as she weaves how systemic racism and poverty guide so much of why this is the story she has to tell. That her memoir is about her life, and as she says at the beginning of her book, she can't talk about her life without talking about the lives she's lost and systemic issues that affect Black communities, particularly in the south.

I read this book after reading her devastating essay on the loss of her husband to covid-19
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2020/08/jesmyn-ward-on-husbands-death-and-grief-during-covid