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A review by kalypsowolf
Benjamin Banneker and Us: Eleven Generations of an American Family by Rachel Jamison Webster
challenging
slow-paced
3.5
3.5
I think overall this book is very interesting and talks about a lot of important things.
I think documenting the journey of delving into your ancestry is awesome and I found it pretty fun to read about, but it's clear that she didn't record the conversations she had and it shows. I couldn't tell when it was supposed to be her talking or someone else because it all used the same voice in the text and that affected my reading experience way more than I thought it would.
I did appreciate the creative detail given to the historical parts. It served to make these people more than just names and facts on a page, which I think is so important. Especially with black people and women who rarely ever have detailed information about them in historical documents. I think there are parts where the descriptions of what it might have been like back then do go on a little too long, though, and I ended up skimming through quite a few sections.
I think overall this book is very interesting and talks about a lot of important things.
I think documenting the journey of delving into your ancestry is awesome and I found it pretty fun to read about, but it's clear that she didn't record the conversations she had and it shows. I couldn't tell when it was supposed to be her talking or someone else because it all used the same voice in the text and that affected my reading experience way more than I thought it would.
I did appreciate the creative detail given to the historical parts. It served to make these people more than just names and facts on a page, which I think is so important. Especially with black people and women who rarely ever have detailed information about them in historical documents. I think there are parts where the descriptions of what it might have been like back then do go on a little too long, though, and I ended up skimming through quite a few sections.