I read and loved Wilkerson's debut, Black Cake, so I was very excited to be given the chance to read this, her second novel. Wilkerson is strong on structure, weaving multiple stories and timelines to create a richly imagined world for the characters who inhabit her novels. It was one of the things I loved about Black Cake and I loved it here, too.

Ebby Freeman is from a distinguished black family that can trace their roots back four hundred years in what is now, primarily an area established by rich, white families. Ebby's family have suffered trauma, from the death of her brother to the shock collapse of her wedding to the son of a wealthy, white family and the scandal that arises. Ebby runs away to France to try and get some space and quiet from the betrayal of her fiancé but fate has other ideas. Ebby's past rises up to meet her and she must attempt to disentangle the strands of her past from the possibility of her future.

Wilkerson's scope here has been ambitious and I admire her skill for telling stories, but in this book there were times I felt a little distracted by extraneous characters or plot lines I didn't care about, which for me, detracted from both Ebby's and Old Mo's story which were the beating heart of this book. Having said that, this is a great read and I am genuinely excited to follow and read whatever she does next.