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Jesmyn Ward: Let Us Descend (2023, Scribner) 4 stars

Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader’s guide. As …

A True Descent

5 stars

Listen. This book is brutal. It’s Dante’s descent into Inferno, except your Dante and Ward is your Virgil. Prose that hooks you deep and won’t let you go, sparse dialog that contains multitudes of hidden depth, your mirror neurons will be firing on all cylinders. This story sank into my marrow and ravaged my soul. So why would one even want to embark on this journey? To see and to learn, to commune with the spirits and walk through the bloodstained landscape of history. When we all turn away from what’s uncomfortable, hate flies free and love dies in the dark.

Just remember to not over do it, burnout is real and not healthy or helpful to anyone.