The connection of ancestors and how the dead still effect the living is explored in the tangled web of Irene Paisley and Stanford Solomon’s family. Generations of family members are navigating their life decades and centuries later based on their past ancestors. A domino effect is seen when their Jamaican family members continue to comb through secrets, history, and lineage.
Each chapter goes through a story about a different family member. The multi-generational saga is weaves through different time periods and different family connections.
Jamaican history, plantation life for slaves, and the exploitation of women in 19th century Jamaica is explored throughout the novel as the characters try to atone with the ghosts of their past.
The first chapter starts off a bit confusing. It front-loads all of the characters and many events making it hard to separate who from who and what from what. But after that short introduction, everything fell into place. The Jamaican dialogue was hard to understand sometimes, but I could figure out what was happening overall.
I enjoyed this debut novel and recommend it historical fiction readers.
Visit author Maisy Card’s website.
Refinery29 article recommends These Ghosts are Family.
Bustle recognizes These Ghosts are Family as an immigrant experience novel.
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I received an advance readers copy through Netgalley and Edelweiss. Opinions are my own.