I'm not a short story fan. I can't explain specifically why, but it feels just too jolting to wrap up what could be a novel in a few pages. This book is absolutely the exception and has such a fascinating premise in the main story that I can already imagine what a movie version could look like.
There are a couple other stories that serve as powerful warm-ups for the main event, but I'll focus this review on the story that makes up most of this book. It's a concept so original, so powerful, so metaphorical that I absolutely found myself wanting more.
Da'Naisha is a young Black woman living in Charlottesville, Virginia. We quickly learn she's a descendent of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings. When white supremacists take over their city and put its Black residents at risk, Da'Naisha and others flee into the hills outside of town. They find themselves at a former home-turned-tourist attraction Monticello, a place where the white narrative was the only story told here for decades.
Da'Naisha and the group settle in to Monticello, finding shelter in the house and even working the surrounding grounds. This site, once the home of hundreds of Black slaves, becomes their sanctuary from the racist white men who want them dead.
I don't want to reveal too much about the powerful story that unfolds. The premise enough should have you hooked.
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