I may not have understood this at times, but it’s beautifully written and is completely horrific and tragic. That ending just broke me. ( )

A harrowing, beautifully written tale about how, even after everything had been taken from Africans enslaved to America more could yet be taken. Brutal and affecting. ( )

While written 4 years ago, and no less relevant then, this seems like a particularly good time to boost attention for this novella. It's magical, historical, vague enough to keep you guessing, yet just direct enough. It's poignant and Wilson's writing gripped me immediately. I wanted more of this semi-magical, but still very (sadly) real version of America in the 1800s, but I feel like Wilson gave just the right level of detail and information. Sometimes it's good to be left with questions and to read the end of a story and be upset at the resolution. Idk, I'm not being very eloquent about this. Just go read it!

I was able to read this for free on Tor.com (as of June 2020), so check it out. After finishing I immediately bought copies of Wilson's two other books and I can't wait to read them! Clocking in at about 50 pages (or just some scrolling on your phone), it's worth setting a little time aside for. ( )

An amazing short story combining racial tensions in the 1800s with the devil’s seduction of a young girl. Very disturbing and very good. ( )

This disturbing tale is part urban legend, part brutal historical fact. In the 1870s, twelve-year-old Easter is the only remaining child of loving parents. She grows up with her mother's stories of old magic and skin-changing in Africa, long before her forefathers came to America and the tobacco plantations. But is there a grain of truth in these stories? Does Easter know things which we, the reader, don't? Where are her missing siblings? And what's the true nature of the bargain she made in the tobacco field at the age of six, with a suave and smiling stranger? On one level this is an unsettling fantasy, but its impact comes from an unflinching depiction of what it meant to be black in this period in America, playing with notions of inner savagery. I didn't entirely understand the inclusion of 'edits' here and there, but perhaps I need to read it again: are there meant to show the author and his own family trying to process the horrific actions of a bygone age? Shocking, sobering, yet written with a wonderful feeling for the cadences of language and slang, it proves to be a hard story to shake off. ( )