Wow wow wow! This book was incredibly powerful right from the very beginning. I love the very premise of this one - that from pregnant enslaved women who were tossed overboard during the Middle Passage, water-breathing people called the Wanjinru emerged and thrived deep beneath the surface. This new group of people relies on one, the historian, to carry the memory of the many despite the pain and anguish these memories cause them. Yetu flees to the surface, unable to carry the burden of it all, dooming the rest of her people to suffer in her place.
This book was beautifully written, and while it was short in length, there was a depth to each of the chapters that took some time to sink in. I really enjoyed seeing things through Yetu's eyes, and it explores the theme of intergenerational trauma in a way that I'd never seen done before. I highly recommend this one!
This book was beautifully written, and while it was short in length, there was a depth to each of the chapters that took some time to sink in. I really enjoyed seeing things through Yetu's eyes, and it explores the theme of intergenerational trauma in a way that I'd never seen done before. I highly recommend this one!