Book Review: Good Dirt By Charmaine Wilkerson

Book Review: Good Dirt By Charmaine Wilkerson

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Synopsis of Good Dirt

When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well.

The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby’s high profile romance falls apart without any explanation, that’s exactly what they get.

So Ebby flees to France, only for her past to follow her there. And as she tries to process what’s happened, she begins to think about the other loss her family suffered on that day eighteen years ago—the stoneware jar that had been in their family for generations, brought North by an enslaved ancestor. But little does she know that the handcrafted piece of pottery held more than just her family’s history—it might also hold the key to unlocking her own future.

Category

Contemporary Fiction, Black American Literature

Content Warnings:

Child death, Gun violence, Slavery, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence

My Rating

3.75/5

To Read more about my rating system, Click here.

What I Thought:

 had to sit with this book and come back to offer my review. 

This is of course, a beautifully written story. Good Dirt is the story of the Freemans, a black family that can trace their roots back 400 years to a jar that has been passed down from generation to generation. Ebby was just a child when she watches her brother Baz get killed in a home invasion and the jar is broken. 

We fast forward and our story starts as Ebby has just fled to France after being left at the alter. 

I really wanted to love this book. I think for me, I truly dislike the back and forth between timelines. It is rare that it is done seamlessly and this was not it. At times there were too many characters to keep up with and at time there were certain aspects of the story tha had me asking: BUT WHY IS THIS RELEVANT?

 There was a LOT of miscommunication and things that were supposed to be big revelations but just fell…flat. 

But i still couldn’t put this book down. So…

I am going to give this book at 3.75/5. 

How to Get the Book!

If my review has convinced you that you need to read this book, Check out the links below!

Buy on Amazon.com | Bookshop.org| Listen on LibroFM

If you’ve read this book, I would love to hear what you think in the comments!

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