From the front cover to the last page--I loved this book! Maisy Card’s debut novel is a series of interconnected stories about a family that can trace its oldest ancestor to a slave, Florence, on a sugar plantation in Jamaica. Florence is hanged for trying to poison her master. In 2020, some of the descendants have settled in Brooklyn, one even marries a descendent of the old master. There aren’t ghosts on every page but they do make appearances and the past and the present are clearly connected.
Leaving the Episcopal priesthood and turning to teaching at Piedmont College in Georgia, Barbara Brown Taylor examines the world’s religions with her sheltered and mostly Christian students. She writes of her field trips to mosques, synagogues, Hindu and Buddhist temples in nearby Atlanta. Borrowing the parts of other religions that speak to her, she crafts a beautifully written and deeply profound examination of her own faith.
This is a fast, fascinating and terrifying read. Donald Trump’s dysfunction has been on display for over three years and I’ve always wondered what makes someone so damaged and insecure. This book helps explain the family dynamics that set this process in motion for Donald but also for the other siblings, particularly the family namesake, Freddy, Mary Trump’s father. It has to be seen as a courageous act to go against such a domineering set of siblings, one currently the U.S. President, who ultimately acted together to disinherit Mary and her brother. The Trump base will not like this book but I found it mesmerizing.
