I was born and spent my earliest years in Dallas, but grew up in Miami, so I’ve never really counted as southern to southerners or not-southern to anyone else. I’m floored by the inclusion of Ancestor Trouble among Garden & Gun’s best southern books of 2022. Many thanks to the great Latria Graham for the selection and these kind words:
We Southerners love lore, and the Dallas-born author Maud Newton’s willingness to probe dark corners of human behavior and interrogate the obfuscated parts of her Southern family stories produces some crushing realizations. The book is in turns stunning, unsettling, and timely, and I’ve recommended it to anyone searching for a way to talk about the individual stories that make up the mythology around America’s history. —Latria Graham, contributing editor
It was so nice to see the round-up mention in Entertainment Weekly’s best-of list, too. And the Chicago Tribune’s Biblioracle, John Warner, named it one of his best memoirs and nonfiction books of the year as well. “I thought we’d be seeing Maud Newton’s Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation on some shortlists for major awards because it is a unique mix of family history, cultural analysis and personal essaying that adds up to both a broad and deep exploration of what it means to share our DNA with others across generations. The difficulty of knowing what category the book belongs under is its greatest strength. Not one to miss out on,” he said. Thank you, John!
Previously I noted that the book was listed as one of the best of the year by The New Yorker, NPR, The Washington Post, Time, and Esquire.