Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation

(Author)
Available

Product Details

Price
$28.99  $26.96
Publisher
Random House
Publish Date
Pages
400
Dimensions
6.4 X 9.3 X 1.6 inches | 1.45 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780812997927

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About the Author

Maud Newton has written for The New York Times Magazine, Harper's, The New York Times Book Review, and Oxford American. She grew up in Miami and graduated from the University of Florida with degrees in English and law.

Reviews

"Ancestor Trouble is a memoir like no other I've ever read: it's an addictive mystery story, an unflinching examination of America's darkest history, and a plangent meditation on the power of long-buried secrets to assert themselves in our lives. With astonishing erudition and empathy, Maud Newton has woven together sociology, science, and her own genealogical sleuthing to craft a narrative at once universal and intensely personal. A haunting, thought-provoking, and utterly mesmerizing book."--Karen Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of The Ghosts of Eden Park

"Whether they are writers, womanizers, preachers, or enslavers, Maud Newton soberly reckons with her ancestors in this absorbing narrative, as addictive as genealogy itself. In reflections ranging from the scientific to the spiritual, Newton builds a bridge between her and her ancestors that is fascinating, deeply moving, and sure to make every reader want to spend some time with their kin."--Dionne Ford, co-editor of Slavery's Descendants: Shared Legacies of Race and Reconciliation

"I've been searching for this book a long time, one that would help make sense of my own complicated family history. Newton's incredibly smart hybrid of a memoir is essential reading for anyone interested in learning more about themselves through the prism of the past--which is to say, nearly everyone. I can't wait to share this with my family."--Garrard Conley, New York Times bestselling author of Boy Erased

"Ancestor Trouble is a superbly written and meticulously researched book about the people and stories that shape us. Through careful examination of census records, genealogy, and DNA data, Maud Newton patiently excavates her family's troubled history, revealing how the past continues to inform the present, in ways that are sometimes invisible to us. An extraordinary work."--Laila Lalami, author of The Other Americans

"Ancestor Trouble lifts the veil between our present moment and past generations, some long buried, who shape our lives whether we realize it or not. With cultural analysis, global historical contexts, and her own compelling hunt for family history, Maud Newton invites us to consider our ancestors with a reverence Western thought often forgets."--Sarah Smarsh, New York Times bestselling author of Heartland

"One of the most uncompromising and compassionate books about the tangled web that binds us to our past. Maud Newton writes with fierce brilliance about family, racism, mental illness, and the personal and national burdens of history. What do we owe our ancestors? How much of their sins become our responsibilities? In this magnificent book, Newton refuses to look away from her most intimate and painful moments, and in the process she leads us toward a vision of what individual and national healing might look like. Startling in scope and breadth, Ancestor Trouble firmly establishes Newton as one of our most exciting--and necessary--writers."--Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King, shortlisted for the Booker Prize