Things Past Telling
Momma Grace could be as old as 112; no one knows her real age for sure, but there is no question that she has lived a long and eventful life. Born in Nigeria in the mid-18th century, she is captured in a harrowing raid with her sister when she is eleven years old. Aboard a slave ship headed for the Caribbean, she is renamed Maryam, her real name never to be spoken again. She is forced to grow up fast and faces the abuse and trials a child should never have to endure. She is briefly free, taken in by an African pirate named Caesar, only to be recaptured and sold to a plantation owner in Virginia. Resilient and refusing to be broken, she learns how to heal people and becomes a midwife. Though still enslaved, these skills are very valuable and earn her a bit more freedom than others experience. She eventually finds love but has many losses in her life and has to start over again and again.
This is a truly character-driven novel that explores how people define themselves, the creation of family and home, and the importance of memory and language. The descriptions of what a human can endure are vivid and raw, but so are Maryam’s triumphs. This is a very personal and emotional story based on historical figures and stories passed on to the author by her grandmothers. Fans of historical epics won’t be able to put this book down.
