What You Leave Behind by Wanda M. Morris William Morrow (June 18, 2024)
Driven by the memory of deceased ancestors whose souls linger and permeate the landscape of Dunbar Creek, lawyer Deena Wood is determined to find out who murdered two elderly, Black siblings in the coastal town of Brunswick, Georgia. When Wood, still recovering from the loss of her mother and a nasty divorce, returns to her childhood home to gather up the pieces of her life, she has an encounter with an old descendent of Black landowners who’s dogged personality, and subsequent disappearance, compels her to search for answers. This thriller turns what some may think is an ordinary Black woman into a low country, super sleuth. And those who underestimate her do so at their own peril. Additionally, the heroine, like many of us who never know all the secrets of our elders, learns that people often come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. And, consequently, her return home reveals the soulmate who was always there. This story, of which some version is possible, is a common one. Up and down the southeast coast, where Africans settled on then, undesirable low country islands and landscapes after emancipation, Black landowners have been systematically driven off land that have since become playgrounds for the middleclass. In this tale, Morris beautifully connects generations together for a common cause, and demonstrates the significance of reaching beyond the physical to cultivate our bond to those who came before. Not only is What You Leave Behind by Wanda M. Morris a thoroughly contemporary novel, but it also teaches us lessons about heirs’ property theory, Black families, intuition, Georgia coastal island history, and the importance of keeping legacies intact for future generations.
SPITTING OUT BONES 