I have long admired Jesmyn Ward’s writing, especially Sing, Unburied, Sing. Ward’s latest novel, Let Us Descend, doesn’t reach those lofty heights but is still a creative, worthwhile read. The novel centers on Annis, the daughter of an enslaved woman who was raped by the plantation owner. Annis’ mother trains her to fight, as her African warrior grandmother once did before she, too, was sold into slavery. But a strong will and fighting skills are not enough to fend off the physical and sexual abuse inflicted by white people on enslaved people.

After Annis’ mother is taken away and sold, Annis begins seeing a spirit named Aza, who takes the form of her grandmother. Annis calls on Aza to help her through a series of the hardships. Aza is inconsistent and no substitute for Annis’ mother, but their dialogue helps Annis find her way. I had difficulty suspending my disbelief over Aza’s character, and found the Aza-Annis dialogue difficult to follow at times.

Ward’s literary talents were most on display when describing the horrors Annis endured, and the violent behavior of the white community. She doesn’t mince words, but stories like these need to be told and re-told, in hopes that as a society we will someday atone for this period in history. ( )

Annis is a slave on a plantation in Virginia. Her father is the plantation owner. When she rebuffs his advances she is sold further south. The journey to New Orleans is long and nearly unbearable. The scenes where the slaves are forced to cross rivers are awful. Upon reaching New Orleans, Annis is purchased by a woman who runs a sugar plantation. She is starved and worked mercilessly. She has a spirit, her grandmother Aza who watches over her. This is gut-wrenching, but probably a more true portrayal of slavery than what we usually are fed. ( )

Very character-driven magical realism historical fiction story with lyrical prose but very little plot. ( )

[3.25] How I wanted this widely-acclaimed book that reimagines Dante’s “Inferno” to land on my all-to-short list of 5-star reads. It seemed to have all the ingredients. A socially and historically significant theme that creatively explores the tragedy of slavery through the eyes of a girl. A heartbreaking storyline that shines a spotlight on the resiliency of the human spirit. A talented author known for her lyrical prose. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work for me — and I’m struggling to understand why it didn’t. I think my biggest issue involved the way the story unfolded in a stream of consciousness style fashion. It was a challenge for me to navigate the narrative path. As for the magical realism – something I typically get into – this aspect of “Let Us Descend” seemed – for a lack of a better word – “contrived.” Nevertheless, the book sheds light on a harrowing era in our nation’s history. The author clearly did meticulous research and used her wordsmithing to craft a myriad of riveting vignettes. ( )

Jesmyn Ward reimagines the antebellum Deep South as Dante’s Inferno. “Let us descend and enter this blind world.” Using this and other passages from that epic medieval poem that the protagonist, Annis, overheard the tutor teaching her master/sire’s white daughters, Ms. Ward paints a terrifying world of unthinkable horror, cruelty, and drudgery that Annis and her fellow slaves inhabit. Annis’s grandmother, Mama Aza, one of the famed female warriors in the kingdom of Dahomey, West Africa, was sold off by her husband, the king, and carried off in the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the hold of a boat, already pregnant with Annis’s mother by a lover. She ended up on a plantation in North Carolina, near the Great Dismal Swamp. Annis’s mother was raped repeatedly by her master, who fathered Annis. When Annis is in her teens and her master/sire starts pawing at her, her mother steps in to interfere and she is promptly led away by a “Georgia Man” who takes her on other slaves south to the slave market in New Orleans to be sold. A year later, Annis and her friend Safi are also sold sent away with the Georgia Man and she ultimately winds up in New Orleans as well. On this forced march, Annis is guided by an untrustworthy spirit who calls herself Aza after Annis’s grandmother. The unscrupulous slave trader wants to sell her as a “fancy girl, my only worth between my legs,” but she manages to be chosen as a cook and laundress, sent to sugar cane plantation that seemed to be more hellish than the one she left. I felt lost a few times in the story and the ending seemed rather abrupt; although it was not an easy book to read, it is an important one. ( )