Reviews

Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton

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mwilkinson89's review

emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is a heavy read, so be prepared for that. I appreciated the uniqueness of this narrative, which shared the perspective of enslaved women from Texas in the mid nineteenth century. The writing was beautiful, and I appreciated how the book was able to give an accurate sense of the gravity and horror of the women's situation, without resorting to the graphic details and "trauma porn" which often characterizes portrayals of enslaved individuals. While the peek into this time period and perspective was interesting, I'm not sure that the plot of the story was as fleshed out as it could have been, which is why this gets 4 stars for me.

A good black history month read though.

kerasalwaysreading's review

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5.0

This is filled with powerful writing and fantastic, strong female characters. This book was an intimate look into the lives of six enslaved women on a struggling cotton plantation.

I was blown away by this audiobook. Karen Chilton gives a phenomenal voice to these women and this story. What an incredible debut by Tracey Rose Peyton. The depths she went to tell this story were endless.

Told in a staggering multi character narrative, we follow Nan, Junie, Serah, Patience, Alice and Lulu through their oppressive indentureship on the Harlow plantation. Lizzie and Charles Harlow, who the women have taken to calling The Lucy’s in private (as in Lucifer) are running a failing farm. Charles especially is in a constant state of insecurity and fear. Thinking abundance will boost productivity, he begins to bring in “breeders” for the women to lie with and reproduce.

The strong-willed women on this Texas plantation will go to great lengths to keep that from happening. They use the power of spirituality, lore and herbal remedies to keep their time of the month coming regularly and as time goes by, Charles becomes increasingly unstable, going as far as waiting and watching as they copulate to get his way.

The strength in these women was astounding. This book is filled with heavy subject matter. It’s heartbreaking. It’s maddening! Through all these women are put through, they never give up their longing for a better life, one that they can control themselves.

ipb1's review

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3.0

The narrative voice switches confusingly between 1st and 3rd person, and more perplexingly without being entirely clear if that 1st person voice is authorial or A. N. Other. This sounds like a bit of critical pedantry on my part, but it just continually snaps you out of the world of the novel. It's a shame as there is much to recommend this, and it is undeniably powerful and disturbing in the focus on the livestock and 'husbandry' aspects/atrocities of slavery.

emelynreads's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Not the rebellion tale I was expecting but glad I read. The root work was so interesting to read about. I did find myself wanting to read more about the sisterhood because it felt a bit surface level at times.

This novel seems well researched reading through the acknowledgements and other books that helped the author craft this story