“History is Storytelling,” and Yaa Gyasi knows how to weave a story. She is a masterful griot! Slave trade is a central theme, but at the heart of this story is the struggle of a family, though separated by life’s circumstances, they find their way home.

While I am very intrigued about the murder case of an innocent black solider by a bigoted white man during the early 1970s, the book is mostly about the era of segregation and racism through the lens of a now grown man who’s father was the local Methodist preacher who fought hard to uphold his Christian beliefs of equality and civil rights for Black Americans.

One year after beloved artist Prince’s death, his first ex-wife gives an account of their love story. Sadly, it doesn’t have a fairy tale ending. The book is filled with a lot of pain as Mayte describes their grief of losing two children, an illness that I didn’t know about until I read the book and about her struggles to become a mother.

Standing O to the author for championing topics that have plagued and held black women down and back for too long. Before judging someone it’s good to know history. Freedom and the courage to pursue happiness regardless of the lies that have been told about black women lies in the pages of this book.

The book is about a family of Jamaican women with deep hurts and secrets who are trying to survive poverty and someday escape to a better life. There are also some love stories within in its pages. The book answers what you’re willing to do for love—to get it and keep it.

I've read countless books on the perils of slavery, but none quiet as beautifully written as this. There is nothing subtle about this book. It's not a page turner, but stick with it, I promise it is worth it. Sometimes, we have to lose something to find ourselves and that's what this book reveals.

Quite harrowing! This may be a painful and difficult read for some readers. The novel exposes how far a parent will go erase a stream of life misfortunes (bad luck). Let’s agree that enslavement is never a solution.

The Foss family loved the twists and turns of living on the river, but they never expected to be "sold down the river!" After their parents seek medical care at a Memphis hospital regarding the delivery of premature and unexpected twins, the children are taken from their home by the TN Children’s Home Society. This page-turner tells the story of Rill Foss' journey to keep the family together and to someday reunite her siblings. Memories fade, but the love found on the river are hard to shake loose. In the end, being your "real or true" self and to be loved for it, is more important than public image.

Parents' views shape their children, but where does "do as you are told" end especially when a teenager begins to discover that their parents are racists? This is a book about loving someone who your parents don't approve of and about upholding one's family culture and traditions.