Genre: Horror
Published: August 3, 2021 by: Harper Perennial
Pages: 237
Rating: 5/5 stars
CW: slavery, anti-Black racism, blood and gore
For more than a decade, Mira has distanced herself from the small town in the south that she grew up in, due to a terrifying incident in which she saw a ghost on the old Woodsman plantation. Now in the present, Mira has been forced to return back to the plantation to attend her old friend Celine's wedding. During the wedding weekend, Mira is horrified to see the plantation's transformation into a luxury wedding resort, while her former best friend seems to have forgotten the racism and trauma that Mira and their other friend Jesse endured growing up. As the memories from her past return, Mira and Jesse seem to be the only guests who are aware of the violence that occurred on this land years ago, but the other wedding guests soon become aware of the trauma that their ancestors inflicted on the innocent many years ago when it comes back to haunt them.
I don't read a lot of horror, but when I do, I really like when horror books have very clear social commentary interwoven in them. This book was no exception. It had a very distinct premise revolving around the anti-Black racism that the main character and her former friend Jesse endured in their youth, while their white friend Celine marries into privilege and forgets the harm that her childhood friends endured. This book has hints of a few genre conventions, such as horror and more specifically gothic horror, with also some suspense mixed in. All of these elements made for a very engaging read that I could not put down.
This was the first book I have read that took place on a plantation, and I did have some expectations going into it. I am aware that many plantations in the south today have been renovated and marketed towards weddings, and many white people in the south hold events at these sites while blatantly disrespecting and ignoring the violence that occurred on this land. I know Pinterest was one website that recently stopped offering inspiration for plantation weddings, and rightly so. How anyone can be this ignorant and racist, I don't know. But anyways, I expected that same level of ignorance and disrespect to come from Celine and her other wedding guests. McQueen builds up these plot points well through little details, like horrific reenactments marketed as "entertainment" for the guests, antebellum-themed drinks, etc. These details don't seem far off from what happens at these weddings in real life, which I think was really important to see. Yes, this book is horror fiction, but the details within it do reflect the horrors of real life as well, which makes the story all the more important.
I enjoyed reading about Mira's development as a character. She starts off as someone who does not want to confront the past. She just wants to get the wedding weekend out of the way and emerge from it as unscathed as possible, with little to not contact with her former friends. However, she develops throughout the book to realize that she cannot continue to push away her past memories, and she can begin to face these traumatic memories with the help of her friend Jesse in the hopes that the two of them can find closure. What Celine has done is pretty much unforgivable, and reading about how Mira confronts Celine now as an older woman was also I think really important, considering how close the trio were as youth. The additional layer of Celine now marrying into a wealthier status and forgetting her own humble beginnings I think added some dimension to her character as well.
The horror elements in this book were written really well. There are gothic elements with this figure of the plantation itself being haunted by the past, as well as elements of the fear of being surrounded by people who do not care what happened to your ancestors, and there is this looming threat of racial violence in the present as well. Mira and Jesse begin the wedding feeling uncomfortable by their surroundings, and this discomfort is only amplified when they begin to learn more about the events that occurred at the Woodsman plantation. Those who like gothic horror, as well as realistic fiction will find a good mix of the two within this text.
Overall, I could not put this book down. I found the pacing and development of the characters to be well-thought out, and I felt the conclusion provided me enough closure to the book's events. This book serves as a great reminder to those from privileged backgrounds that they cannot push traumatic history under the rug to make themselves feel better, and reminds marginalized individuals that they deserve healing.
Have you read When the Reckoning Comes? What did you think?
Emily @ Paperback Princess
It's always seemed... odd, to me, to *want* to get married at a plantation (assuming that it wasn't like, taken over by former slaves and turned into a prosperous business, or some other similar and randomly specific set of circumstances that will be the exception that proves the rule.)
ReplyDeleteBut then, people get married at stately homes here in the UK, some of which would have had one or two slaves before slavery on 'English' soil (would also have covered Wales,) was outlawed (you could own slaves, but you had to keep them in another country,) and many of which had links to the slave trade. People generally just think of them as pretty houses, I guess.
I really don't know whether the same could be said in the US South... I feel like even the words 'plantation house' have a much more obvious connection to slavery, but I don't know.
Interesting premise for a horror novel, anyways :)
I'm not American so I can only speculate here, but I believe people look at these houses as "pretty" houses with "historical charm" that they think could well suit a wedding venue. They forget the torture that went into upkeeping these "pretty" grounds.
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