Publisher: Harper Collins Canada, August 3rd 2021
Format: Paperback
Pages: 237
Rating: 5/5 stars
Synopsis (from Goodreads):
A haunting novel about a black woman who returns to her hometown for a plantation wedding and the horror that ensues as she reconnects with the blood-soaked history of the land and the best friends she left behind.
More than a decade ago, Mira fled her small, segregated hometown in the south to forget. With every mile she traveled, she distanced herself from her past: from her best friend Celine, mocked by their town as the only white girl with black friends; from her old neighborhood; from the eerie Woodsman plantation rumored to be haunted by the spirits of slaves; from the terrifying memory of a ghost she saw that terrible day when a dare-gone-wrong almost got Jesse—the boy she secretly loved—arrested for murder.
But now Mira is back in Kipsen to attend Celine’s wedding at the plantation, which has been transformed into a lush vacation resort. Mira hopes to reconnect with her friends, and especially, Jesse, to finally tell him the truth about her feelings and the events of that devastating long-ago day.
But for all its fancy renovations, the Woodsman remains a monument to its oppressive racist history. The bar serves antebellum drinks, entertainments include horrifying reenactments, and the service staff is nearly all black. Yet the darkest elements of the plantation’s past have been carefully erased—rumors that slaves were tortured mercilessly and that ghosts roam the lands, seeking vengeance on the descendants of those who tormented them, which includes most of the wedding guests.
As the weekend unfolds, Mira, Jesse, and Celine are forced to acknowledge their history together, and to save themselves from what is to come.
My Review:
–
Read if you like: horror set in the southern United States
–
Mira fled her southern town 10 years ago and is now an English teacher. But when her childhood best friend asks her to come back for her wedding, Mira returns and she learns that the past is coming back to haunt the town.
–
This book has so many awesome components. I loved the idea of people who were enslaved coming back and haunting/getting vengeance on the descendants who wronged them. Brings up the question of who needs to pay/maybe pay reparations for past wrongs.
–
Another interesting part is the wedding was on a plantation that had been renovated and now does tours. It shows how previous horror sites of slavery are now being used for the economic benefit of those still in power and how those in marginalized positions in society are still being exploited!
–
CW: death, slavery, torture, haunting, ghosts, mob violence, domestic violence.
Hooked to Books 