Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada,  October 24, 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 320

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary (Goodreads):

From Jesmyn Ward—the two-time National Book Award winner, youngest winner of the Library of Congress Prize for Fiction, and MacArthur Fellow—comes a haunting masterpiece, sure to be an instant classic, about an enslaved girl in the years before the Civil War.

“‘Let us descend,’ the poet now began, ‘and enter this blind world.’” — Inferno, Dante Alighieri

Let Us Descend is a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation.

Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader’s guide through this hellscape. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. Throughout, she opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with of earth and water, of myth and history; spirits who nurture and give, and those who manipulate and take. While Ward leads readers through the descent, this, her fourth novel, is ultimately a story of rebirth and reclamation.

From one of the most singularly brilliant and beloved writers of her generation, this miracle of a novel inscribes Black American grief and joy into the very land—the rich but unforgiving forests, swamps, and rivers of the American South. Let Us Descend is Jesmyn Ward’s most magnificent novel yet, a masterwork for the ages.Read if you like: literary fiction/historical fiction mix
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Jesmyn Ward is a beautiful writer and when I found out she was writing a historical fiction book I was so excited, and this lived up to all my expectations. She really outdid herself with this book!
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When Annis is sold south, she seeks comfort in her stories about her mother and her African grandmother. A spirit visits and assumes the name of her grandmother, and we get to go on the journey with them as she learns to find strength in who she is and her ancestors.
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This story was heartbreaking but the writing is amazing and I highly recommend this book if you love historical fiction!
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Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for the copy of this book!

My Review:

Read if you like: literary fiction/historical fiction mix
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Jesmyn Ward is a beautiful writer and when I found out she was writing a historical fiction book I was so excited, and this lived up to all my expectations. She really outdid herself with this book!
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When Annis is sold south, she seeks comfort in her stories about her mother and her African grandmother. A spirit visits and assumes the name of her grandmother, and we get to go on the journey with them as she learns to find strength in who she is and her ancestors.
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This story was heartbreaking but the writing is amazing and I highly recommend this book if you love historical fiction!
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Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for the copy of this book!