ARC BOOK REVIEW: Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson


REVIEW: 

I was super excited to be approved for this book, I loved Wilkersons first book Black Cake and this one was an equally amazing read. Told from different perspectives and different time frames we learn the history of a jar that had been in the Freeman family for decades. Thrown by a slave named Moses and traveled from the south to the North. The jar becomes affectionately known as Ole Mo for the initials Moses carved into it. The saying he carved into the bottom became a symbol of hope to the family. 

Ebby Freeman's whole life is changed when her brother Baz is murdered and Ole Mo broken. When she is left at the altar on her wedding day she runs off to France to try to heal but the real healing comes when the family stops keeping their feelings and their secrets to themselves. 

This is a brilliant book with a beautiful story of family, legacy and freedom. Wilkerson has shown again, how she can revolve a story around a family legacy and have it not only make sense but bring it to life through understanding, history and resilience to the forefront. First around a cake recipe, now around a jar. This book is going to resonate with me for a long time.


Publication Date: January 28, 2025
Format: Ebook
Genre:  Black & African American Literary Fiction 

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Length: 
 368 pages
Buy: Kindle | Audio

SYNOPSIS:
 

When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well.

The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart without any explanation, that's exactly what they get.

So Ebby flees to France, only for her past to follow her there. And as she tries to process what's happened, she begins to think about the other loss her family suffered on that day eighteen years ago—the stoneware jar that had been in their family for generations, brought North by an enslaved ancestor. But little does she know that the handcrafted piece of pottery held more than just her family's history—it might also hold the key to unlocking her own future.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

BOOK REVIEW: Their Vicious Darling by Nikki St. Crowe

BOOK REVIEW: Don't You Dare by CE Ricci

AUDIO BOOK REVIEW: Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth