Some letters we found in my granny’s papers after she died record the fallout from my grandfather Robert’s affair. Ultimately, Robert was said to have married thirteen times. Granny’s marriage to him, his fourth of those I’ve found, lasted about four and a half years. Knowing her later intolerance for foolishness, I’m surprised she put up with him for that . . .
This website has undergone a complete redesign for the first time since it launched in 2002, almost two decades ago. Eep! I adore this iteration so much that I’m hoping to blog more often, if only to spend more time looking at it. All thanks to Lorissa Shepstone and Gordon Clemmons, the brilliant Being Wicked team. Late last week I . . .
In the order received, here are some positive words about my upcoming book, Ancestor Trouble, from writers I admire who took time from their own important work to craft this praise: Abbott Kahler, Laila Lalami, Maaza Mengiste, Sarah Smarsh, and Dionne Ford. I’m grateful beyond measure to each of them, knowing, as Alexander Chee has said, that “writers are often terrifying to normal people” because there’s “almost . . .
For anyone pondering ancestors and their significance for us, I wanted to mention the giveaways I’ve started doing on my newsletter every month, in thanks for Ancestor Trouble pre-orders. I’m giving away two or three books that, in one way or another, fed into or inspired mine. Last month’s mini-library was: Ancestors: The Story of China Told Through the Lives . . .