Moonrise Over New Jessup: A Novel by Jamila Minnicks

(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!)

 

about book: (summary from Goodreads)

Winner of the 2021 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, a thought-provoking and enchanting debut about a Black woman doing whatever it takes to protect all she loves at the beginning of the civil rights movement in Alabama.
 
It’s 1957, and after leaving the only home she has ever known, Alice Young steps off the bus into the all-Black town of New Jessup, Alabama, where residents have largely rejected integration as the means for Black social advancement. Instead, they seek to maintain, and fortify, the community they cherish on their “side of the woods.” In this place, Alice falls in love with Raymond Campbell, whose clandestine organizing activities challenge New Jessup’s longstanding status quo and could lead to the young couple’s expulsion—or worse—from the home they both hold dear. But as Raymond continues to push alternatives for enhancing New Jessup’s political power, Alice must find a way to balance her undying support for his underground work with her desire to protect New Jessup from the rising pressure of upheaval from inside, and outside, their side of town.

Jamila Minnicks’s debut novel is both a celebration of Black joy and a timely examination of the opposing viewpoints that attended desegregation in America. Readers of Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half and Robert Jones, Jr.’s The Prophets will love Moonrise Over New Jessup.

"With compelling characters and a heart-pounding plot, Jamila Minnicks pulled me into pages of history I’d never turned before."  —Barbara Kingsolver 

"An immersive and timely recasting of history by a gloriously talented writer to watch. You will fall in love with New Jessup: the town and the book." 
—Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, author of The Revisioners

my thoughts:

Wow. Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks is a smart, thought-provoking must-read.  I loved it. I think this is an important book - the writing is excellent and the ways in which it explores race, history and community is superb. Moonrise Over New Jessup is classic in my opinion. And, I would wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone. 

Alice finds herself stepping off a bus in the town of New Jessup, Alabama. It's 1957 and the town is all-Black. Founded by freed slaves, the town is bent on segregation - meaning, Blacks only. And she loves it. She finds herself smitten with the town and with one of the founder's relatives.  So, she doesn't leave. She stays in New Jessup and makes a life for herself. Of course, life isn't perfect and soon enough she's having to deal with her husband's political actions, keeping the town of New Jessup safe, and her own beliefs about living in a segregated community. Talk about a book with a purpose. 

Minnicks has written about a topic we are familiar with - the civil rights movement - via a different perspective - from the inside of an all Black town wanting segregation from the white town across the way. It's fascinating and intriguing. I loved the mix of history with Minnick's own take on the subject. And, the characters were the best kind - the type you can't help but get invested in straightaway and have to know what is going to happen to them. I just loved this book to bits. It was such a great reading experience. 

Definitely make sure to get your hands on a copy of Jamila Minnicks' outstanding novel, Moonrise Over New Jessup. You are going to LOVE it!!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!

Embassy Wife: A Novel by Katie Crouch

(Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book: (summary from Goodreads)

A smart, sparkling novel that is one part social satire, one part travelogue . . . Comical and cool." --Oprah Daily

In Katie Crouch's thrilling novel Embassy Wife, two women abroad search for the truth about their husbands--and their country.

Meet Persephone Wilder, a displaced genius posing as the wife of an American diplomat in Namibia. Persephone takes her job as a representative of her country seriously, coming up with an intricate set of rules to survive the problems she encounters: how to dress in hundred-degree weather without showing too much skin, how not to look drunk at embassy functions, and how to eat roasted oryx with grace. She also suspects her husband is not actually the ambassador's legal counsel but a secret agent in the CIA. The consummate embassy wife, she takes the newest trailing spouse, Amanda Evans, under her wing.

Amanda arrives in Namibia mere weeks after giving up her Silicon Valley job so her husband, Mark, can have his family close by as he works on his Fulbright project. But once they're settled in the sub-Saharan desert, Amanda sees clearly that Mark, who lived in Namibia two decades earlier, has other reasons for returning. Back in the safety of home, the marriage had seemed solid; in the glaring heat of the Kalahari, it feels tenuous. And the situation grows even more fraught when their daughter becomes involved in an international conflict and their own government won't stand up for her.

How far will Amanda go to keep her family intact? How much corruption can Persephone ignore? And what, exactly, does it mean to be an American abroad when you're not sure you understand your country anymore?

Propulsive and provocative, Embassy Wife asks what it means to be a human in this world, even as it helps us laugh in the face of our own absurd, seemingly impossible states of affairs.

my thoughts:

Love, love, love! What a fantastic book! I just LOVED Embassy Wife by Katie Crouch. Talk about a fascinating and entertaining story! Plus, that book cover - AMAZING!

Persephone is the wife of an American diplomat in Namibia.  She knows the ins and outs of how to survive as an 'embassy wife', so she decides to take new arrival, Amanda, under her wing. Amanda has just landed from a Silicon Valley job. She's in Namibia supporting her husband as he pursues his work on his Fulbright project. Except, turns out her husband has other reasons for wanting to return to Africa - apparently, he lived there decades ago and his past won't let go of him.  As for Mila, she's from Namibia and is another embassy wife who knows the region well.  She oozes wealth and fabulosity, but can also tell you about the poverty stricken life she has witnessed and once lived. Talk about three very different women who are living in a country rife with political, economic, and social issues that affect them in vastly different ways.  It is eye-opening, disturbing, and jaw-dropping - all of which makes this book so damn interesting. 

Crouch has written a terrific story that will draw you in and keep you hooked. You won't be able to stop reading! This book will have you falling in deep with these women and their families. I loved getting to know Persephone, Amanda, Mila, and Namibia. This is one book that I enjoyed spending my afternoons with. Such a great read!

I would happily recommend Embassy Wife to fans of Crouch's work and to anyone looking for their next great read - you will LOVE this book to bits!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!