I thank the publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this book in return for a fair and unbiased review.
I had not come across the writer before but will now be following her work in future. This is a very harrowing story of slavery in the southern United States in the days when slaves were still being shipped from Africa, and it links tribal history and ideas with the horrible reality of slave life, particularly in the second part of the book on a sugar cane plantation in Louisiana. The writing is powerful and engages us with slave life and the belief in spirits handed down through the generations. Very moving

Jesmyn Wards delicate and measures writing is worth a thousand awards. Let Us Descend is as achingly brilliant as her other work.

I read this while travelling through some of the places in the book which made it even more powerful. A raw, visceral and heart-breaking story that brings the full horrors of the slave experience to life.

Book Review 📚
Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward - 4/5 ⭐

I needed to take some time to let this book sink in. To think there's so much truth behind the story, that it's part of our history? Heartbreaking. Utterly soul destroying. Ward created such a beautiful, yet heartbreakingly painful read.

FMC - Annie. She's a teenage girl, who happens to be the daughter of a slave. What an extraordinary character Ward has brought to life. She's on such a journey throughout the book and to watch her grow and find herself, she's strong and dedicated. I just wanted to take her into my arms and love her, telling her it'll be okay.

I cannot fault a single thing in this book. The characters were amazing and perceived exactly as should be, there's fiction and fantasy at the same time. There's hope and heartbreak. There's joy and sorrow. Ward has the ability to make readers feel so much emotion at one time. Its phenomenal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

Let Us Descend is a beautiful story telling us the story of a young girl who is enslaved and her journey from the Rice Fields in the Carolinas to New Orleans. This is a beautifully told fantasy with so many heart-breaking moments and also heart-warming descriptions of a mother-daughter relationship. This truly blew me away and I highly recommend.

Having read Jesmyn Ward’s previous novels I was very much looking forward to this new one. Whilst I found it interesting, I did find it a bit of a slog to reach the end. The writing is beautiful and I can appreciate this but I just found that not much really happened and I wanted the story to move along faster.

A brilliantly told fantasy novel about one family's trials in captivity.
Jesmyn Ward always delivers brilliant characters and brilliant storylines.
Just enough spirit world to help this novel along.
I would recommend this novel to anyone.
Thank you Jesmyn for another gem, and thank you to the publisher for an advance reader's copy for honest review.

An absolutely beautiful book, telling the story of a young enslaved girl and her journey from the rice fields in the Carolinas to New Orleans after being separated from her mother. Elements of magical realism are incorporated to give even more background into the mother-daughter relationship and also into the grandmother's life, as she was taken from her home to become enslaved in America. This is a heartbreaking story as any story of slavery is, but also full of strength and hope. A different style than other Jesmyn Ward books that I've read previously, and actually I think this might be her best. Truly a standout work.

The first weapon I ever held, was my mother‘s hand”, Wow, what a fabulous first line for a novel it immediately grabbed me and I knew I was in for an enjoyable read.
This novel tells the story of a black female slave in prerevolutionary America sold and journeying Do you have a new mistresses home whilst raising the spirit of her African grandmother . The spirit grandmother was an interesting idea as it show the history of slave 3/3 generations. From the time the grandmother was in slaved in Africa and taken over the sea to America to the the date of the novel’s setting.
I personally felt that the sections with the spirits were less satisfactory than the more realistic elements of the story, which were entirely enough on their own .
The author uses the word stolen, meaning enslaved. I thought that this was magnificent.
The author also has a beautiful way with words,there are some sentences that I had to stop admire as they were so perfect as was the first sentence as I’ve already mentioned
The novel is primarily a story in situation based novel. I personally felt that the character development was not as detailed as I’d seen in the authors previous works, and I missed this.
I knew this author reasonably well, as I had read, Sing, Unburied, Sing, and Salvaged The Bones, both of which were five star reads for me, very disappointed with myself that I didn’t recognise her name is quite distinctive and therefore hadn’t realised I had read the previous novels until after I had chosen this one from its description .
I would recommend to those who like historical novels set in times of American slavery, if you liked the underground railroad by Colston Whitehead for example, you will enjoy this book. Although the latter novel is more naturalistic, and does not contain the magical reality of this novel
Let us descend, is published in the UK on the 24th of October 2023 by Bloomsbury publishing plc.
This review will appear on NetGalley, UK, good reads, and my book block bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication, the review will also appear on Amazon, UK.

Jesmyn Ward is such a great author and she proves it again with this book. To be honest, I always struggle to read about slavery. However, this story was so beautifully told and even the saddest parts are full of strength. The mother daughter relationship touched me deeply. I also loved the interplay between the spirits, nature and people.

This was such a good book. I love historical fiction, especially when it is about eras/ situations that I previously knew nothing about and this was definitely one of those books. It was so well researched and so compelling in its narrative that not only did I love reading it but I felt that I learned too. A really enjoyable read and perfect for any fans of historical fiction. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Gorgeous, gorgeous writing which serves to draw even more attention to the unconscionable brutality and ravaging of slavery. Was Ward thinking definitively of Dante's Divine Comedy? Certainly I was as this moves through circles of hell ('let us descend') and we also follow the moral degradation of everyone involved in chattel slavery from the slave ships to the slave markets and auctions to the plantations themselves.

There's also, I think, a gesture towards Morrison's iconic [book:Beloved|49921026] in the concern with female genealogy and the merging of harsh realism with something more spiritual and metaphysical through the ghost-spirits which sustain and nurture Annis after her mother is ripped from her to be sold.

Harrowing and yet beautiful.

The award winning Jesmyn Ward's latest historical novel, set in the years before the civil war, differs from her previous books with its incorporation of magical realism, myth and the spiritual world that may not work for all readers. Beautifully written, the prose elevates the entire reading experience, with Ward imagining and giving voice to the enslaved, a demanding and harrowing read that captures the horror and terrors of being a slave, of family, the grief, loss, the picture of a mother-daughter relationship, and transcendent love. We observe the teenage Annis on a punishing long and perilous journey by foot, whilst shackled and hungry, from the Carolinas to the New Orleans slave market. She ends up on a brutal sugar plantation in Louisiana.

Annis's mother had been raped by her white 'master', their bond of love is cruelly broken by him with the sale of her mother, leaving Annis relying on her sense of identity, her powerful memories of her mother and the stories of her warrior grandmother arriving on a slave ship to the US. However, unsurprisingly given the nightmare march through challenging environments that included forests and swamps, with the dangerous and inhumane conditions sapping her physical and inner strength on the path to the slave market, hope is harder to sustain. In her efforts to survive, Annis calls on the spirit world to help support her in the haunting raw darkness she is trapped andinescapably immersed in.

Ward's storytelling is profound and breathtakingly captivating, although a tough read, this is eased with the glimmers of hope, light and humanity, to be found amidst the losses and overpowering grief. It speaks of the importance of human connections when being transported through the different hells, of family, history, faith, resilience, magical realms, myths and folklore. This is a exquisite read from a gifted writer that I have no hesitation recommending highly. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

An interesting and heart-wrenching imagining of the bonds of slavery. Let Us Descend follows the life of Annis who is the third generation of her family bound in captivity. It follows her fight to escape her bonds to freedom and, in her grief at the separation from her mother, calls on the spirits of her ancestors to help her in her flight. Jesmyn Ward does a brilliant job of conjuring up reader pathos for all women whose identities are erased by constricting and suffocating societal roles. Having not read any of Jesmyn’s previous novels, I was a little non-pulsed at first by the spirit of ‘Mama Asa’ until I researched her earlier material.

Yes this book is a solid 5 stars for me, and I don’t give that amount easy if you follow my reviews you notice this already. This book publication day is 25 of October of 2023. Big shout out to NetGalley and Bloomsbury publishing for the access to this beautiful ARC. This book follow the story of Annis she is the daughter of a woman raped by a slave owner. This book is replete of brutality of the environment, very harsh life stories, got a bit of magic realism what I adore and is a BIG brilliant example of beautiful storytelling. Literally is written so beautiful that you can find some poetry in it, some of the verses are so lírica and beautiful. This is my first contact with the autor and what a beautiful contact was. The beauty on the book prose put it in a new level. Honestly it climb to one of my favourite books of 2023. Being a historical fiction is right in one of my favourite genres and I left this book in love with the work of the author.

This book was riveting, I was completely immersed within the writing. If you like historical fiction or literary fiction please read this story.

Jesmyn Ward is a fantastic writer. I don't need to tell you that if you've already read any of her previous novels. If you have yet to encounter her, this would make a very fine starting point. Though a departure from her previous works, the quality, luminosity and beauty of the prose here will take your breath away. It will make you want to delve into her back catalogue.

We follow Annis, the daughter of a woman raped by a white slave owner. When her mother is taken from her, transported north, Annis is also enchanted and marched south. What follows is a mixture of harsh brutality, magic realism, myth, poetry and even beauty. Annis is a captivating narrator, and Jesmyn Ward brings her world to startling light.

This will surely top many best books of the year lists and see Ward at least nominated for some major literary prizes (probably even winning some). This is the type of novel to read, savour and read again. It is a thing of beauty.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

3.5 stars


An interesting tale of a young slave girl.
It's harsh at times, as you expect, but Jesmyn Ward writes beautifully.
The spirits add an extra element yo the story that I enjoyed.
If you've not read Ward before, this is a very good place to start.