The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

Title: The Revisioners
Author: Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
Publisher: Counterpoint
ISBN: 978-1640094260
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 288
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

I was stunned after reading The Revisioners. I still am. There were times I put down the book because I was scared of turning the page, wondering what will happen to characters I fell in love with, mainly the protagonists. This story is about two African-American women connected by blood, and divided by time. The story moves from 2017 to 1924, and also taking place in 1855. There is a lot going on in the book. It is a tale of generations, legacies, healing, motherhood, racism, prejudice, and old-age traditions.

The book starts in New Orleans in the year 2017, when Ava, a biracial mom and her teenage son King move in with Ava’s white, wealthy grandmother Martha. Ava becomes her caretaker, as she is recently laid off and could do with some money and rent-free accommodation. She does all of this so she can finally buy a place of her own after saving some money. Little does she know what’s in store for her and her son – Martha starts behaving erratically and things start to change.

Josephine, Ava’s ancestor’s story is set in 1924 when she is a free woman with her own plantation and house, alternating in the year 1855 when she was a young slave girl on the Wildwood plantation. Josephine befriends a white, lonely, younger woman Charlotte and an uneasy friendship is formed between the two. Josephine has learned the hard way and strived to find her voice and Charlotte has her own past to deal with. The question then is: Can a black woman and a white woman ever be friends?

The power dynamics between the white and the marginalised black are neatly laid out. Sexton speaks up and makes you realize with every scene and conversation about the privilege, the distance, and the promise and audacity of hope between the white and black women as their paths cross. Sexton’s writing is raw and grabs you from the first page. And might I add that it is not a slave narrative. It is about hope, courage, and how to stand your own ground when it comes to identity and the connections of ancestry. It is about how two black women a century apart experience racism, and how things perhaps haven’t changed all that much. The stories of Ava and Josephine are ground in reality, though sometimes they take on a mythical quality, lending them the magic realism tone.

The Revisioners is a book that is needed. It is needed for people to not only check privilege but also make an effort to reduce gaps, to cross bridges, and examine their relationships with people around them. It is a reminder of blood relationships and also relationships that go beyond blood, and expand into a community, and last forever.

Something Bright, Then Holes by Maggie Nelson

Title: Something Bright, Then Holes
Author: Maggie Nelson
Publisher: Soft Skull Press
ISBN: 978-1593762308
Genre: Poems, Prose
Pages: 96
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5 Stars

Maggie Nelson is a genius. No really, she actually is. Have no doubt when it comes to this. Her prose and poetry shines and is enchanting to the very last word. I have read close to 3 books by her and I can say with complete confidence that there is no one like her. Sometimes I do not even know if her writing is prose or poetry or a combination of both. Whatever it is, it is glorious and deserves to be read by one and all.

Something Bright, Then Holes is full of empathy. Everything she writes is as a matter of fact. To me that stands out in her writing and the only reason why I love her writing the way I do, beside of course the language. However, you cannot separate the two anyway. Also, this collection cannot be compared to Bluets and you shouldn’t if you have read Bluets. This collection is divided into three parts – a new relationship being embarked on and a polluted waterway in Brooklyn, the second is the aftermath of a paralysing accident that Nelson’s friend goes through and the third is her attempt to get over a failed relationship.

Each section is raw, intense and utterly heartbreaking. It is as though you are being tied to a chair and the person you love the most is walking away from you, and you cannot do anything about it. The collection is unapologetic and she doesn’t put on a brave face – her writing conveys, mostly painfully, what she is going through. Each sentence stands out from the other and lends itself a new voice. Maggie Nelson as usual doesn’t disappoint at all. Everything is satisfactory, even the hurt and the pain, especially the hurt and the pain. Read it. Please be prepared to weep.