Descrip­tions

Une jarre en grès. Voilà le bien le plus précieux de la famille Freeman, celui qui se transmet de génération en génération depuis qu’un esclave potier l’a fabriqué et signé, celui qui a accompagné la fuite de leur premier ancêtre libre. Mais ce repère n’existe plus pour Ebby Freeman, brisé en même temps que la vie de son frère lors d’un tragique cambriolage.

Vingt ans plus tard, alors que la jeune femme pensait enfin pouvoir mener une vie normale, son fiancé l’abandonne le jour de leur mariage. Elle décide alors de quitter les États-Unis. Direction la France, pour un séjour mouvementé qui lui permettra de se reconnecter à son héritage. Un roman captivant qui se tourne autant vers le passé que vers l’avenir pour retracer un pan méconnu de l’histoire de l’esclavage et décrire le poids de cette histoire sur la société américaine. C’est aussi un drame intime qui se joue, et une réflexion passionnante sur le pouvoir de l’art et de la transmission pour, peut-être, se reconstruire.

The daughter of an affluent Black family pieces together the connection between a childhood tragedy and a beloved heirloom in this moving novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Black Cake, a Read with Jenna Book Club Pick

When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well.

The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart without any explanation, that's exactly what they get.

So Ebby flees to France, only for her past to follow her there. And as she tries to process what's happened, she begins to think about the other loss her family suffered on that day eighteen years ago—the stoneware jar that had been in their family for generations, brought North by an enslaved ancestor. But little does she know that the handcrafted piece of pottery held more than just her family's history—it might also hold the key to unlocking her own future.

In this sweeping, evocative novel, Charmaine Wilkerson brings to life a multi-generational epic that examines how the past informs our present.