A powerhouse of a book, spanning seven generations in only 300 pages ~ marvel a minute about how a feat like that was accomplished or even possible?!!!
Effia and Esi, two sisters separated at birth, two life paths. Different life paths are not so unusual for siblings but when one involved the slave trade and one sister sold as a slave, it's absolutely heartbreaking. This question, posed at the back of the book haunts me:
"Who is complicit in the slave trade? Where do most of the slaves come from and who trades them?"
The American South is always thought of as the most egregious abuser of slavery but this book highlights how the British and certain African tribes were complicit in trafficking the African people to the colonies. As is the case with a lot of appalling practices, all in the name of greed. The first chapters were difficult to read, confronting the horrible conditions the women (and men) were forced to endure even before they were ever loaded onto a ship. Reading during Black History month, made it even more poignant. To be rounded up by people from your own country (albeit from other tribes) then forced into slavery and all the repercussions that follow and are still ongoing, really difficult subject matter. But history we should never skim over or forget.
This is not a book you can read on "auto pilot." It constantly swaps perspectives and since it covers seven generations from two descendants, that's FOURTEEN point of views!!! See what I mean??? Every change, took a minute to figure out where the new person belonged on the family tree.
I loved how the author brought the families of both sisters back together in the end. It was a complicated, circuitous route getting there but so fitting because of the miraculous way life works. Excellent book.
One little detail (because I love the details) that I wished the author had written in was for Marcus to find the black & gold necklace his 7X great grandmother had hidden while waiting to be transported to America. It would have been so symbolic for him to find it on the beach (& see that it matched the one passed down to Marjorie.) A transportive moment!
Effia and Esi, two sisters separated at birth, two life paths. Different life paths are not so unusual for siblings but when one involved the slave trade and one sister sold as a slave, it's absolutely heartbreaking. This question, posed at the back of the book haunts me:
"Who is complicit in the slave trade? Where do most of the slaves come from and who trades them?"
The American South is always thought of as the most egregious abuser of slavery but this book highlights how the British and certain African tribes were complicit in trafficking the African people to the colonies. As is the case with a lot of appalling practices, all in the name of greed. The first chapters were difficult to read, confronting the horrible conditions the women (and men) were forced to endure even before they were ever loaded onto a ship. Reading during Black History month, made it even more poignant. To be rounded up by people from your own country (albeit from other tribes) then forced into slavery and all the repercussions that follow and are still ongoing, really difficult subject matter. But history we should never skim over or forget.
This is not a book you can read on "auto pilot." It constantly swaps perspectives and since it covers seven generations from two descendants, that's FOURTEEN point of views!!! See what I mean??? Every change, took a minute to figure out where the new person belonged on the family tree.
I loved how the author brought the families of both sisters back together in the end. It was a complicated, circuitous route getting there but so fitting because of the miraculous way life works. Excellent book.
One little detail (because I love the details) that I wished the author had written in was for Marcus to find the black & gold necklace his 7X great grandmother had hidden while waiting to be transported to America. It would have been so symbolic for him to find it on the beach (& see that it matched the one passed down to Marjorie.) A transportive moment!
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