How do you even begin to review a book as epic, as special, and as powerful as this?! You begin by telling everyone to pick up a copy, because this is one which everyone should read, even though it’s so devastating.

This is the sweeping story of one American family through centuries - from the time when the land was that of the Cherokees, to the slave trade and plantations, to the Civil War, and eventually to this century, as a young woman discovers the true heritage and history of her family.

So this is absolutely not easy to read. I had to break it down into little chunks every day (it’s also a BIG book at almost 800 pages), because there is just so much suffering and heartache in this novel, and whilst this may be fiction we all know too much of it is true. Having said that, it’s also just stunning, written in such a poetic and mesmerising way that many days I read more than planned. I was so utterly invested in these characters lives, and I especially loved the way Jeffers started at the very beginning, but then slowly gave more and more space to the current characters, until they were filling us in on the history of their ancestors who we earlier followed.

The characters are incredible - all flawed, some absolutely monstrous, some exceptionally good, and most somewhere in between. The resilience and depth which most of them show is astounding, and given the things which are dealt with in this story, that really is amazing. So please do check TWs before reading because even I struggled to keep reading certain parts and I don’t have the personal experience which would make it even more traumatising. There’s addiction and a hell of a lot of abuse, and not just in the past where you might expect it. It’s a haunting novel, but I feel so much better informed and aware than I was before reading it. It just took my breath away, and I think it will become an instant classic which people talk about decades from now. Just wow.

I listen to this thanks to Netgalley. It was broken down in to two audio books and took roughly 30 hours to listen to. It was absolutely gripping. This American story hasn’t really been told truthfully. As a white British person, some of the topics covered were totally new to me. I loved the strong female characters, enjoyed how all the stories twisted together, but mostly I felt this was a fascinating way to tell the story of Black American history.