Takes You and Puts You Right Back in History

filled star filled star filled star filled star star unfilled
oldandnewbooksmell Avatar

By

Remembrance is a historical, magical realism novel about four women and their connection for hope in the future and a place called Remembrance.
The novel is mostly set in Pre Civil War and follows two slaves, Abigail and Margot on their way to freedom, and Winter, a baby Abigail saves. Gaelle’s story is set in present day as she cares for an older woman who isn’t quite what she seems.
Rita Woods has the best descriptive writing style I have read in a long time. Even after finishing the book I can still see scenes and settings vividly as if I was just reading about them. I was thrown back into 1790’s Haiti and later 1850’s New Orleans. Alongside the settings written in the novel, Woods does an amazing job writing rich, strong women characters who pull the reader in.
The weakest story arc though was Gaelle. She starts off strong at the beginning but fizzles out quickly. Her story was more of a story telling than it was described to me as the other women were and because of that I didn’t really care for her as a character. Though I know she was used to tie things together in the end, I felt like she either needed more story or to be taken out completely.
Overall, I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes historical fiction. Even if you don’t read this time period often - as it was for me. I would even recommend this to anyone that’s skeptical of the magical realism aspect of it. The magic is a part of the characters but they’re all so much more than that. The stories in this novel are full of tragedy, heartbreak, survival, bravery, determination, and hope. This book is staying on my shelf for another future read.