Name: Amelia C 's review of These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card
Item: These Ghosts Are Family
Rating: 3
Author: Amelia C

Maisy Card

PEN/Hemingway Award For Debut Novel Finalist​ Shortlisted for the 2020 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize A “rich, ambitious debut novel” (The New York Times Book Review) that reveals the ways in which a Jamaican family forms and fractures over generations, in the tradition of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Stanford Solomon’s shocking, thirty-year-old secret is about to change the lives of everyone around him. Stanford has done something no one could ever imagine. He is a man who faked his own death and stole the identity of his best friend. Stanford Solomon is actually Abel Paisley. And now, nearing the end of his life, Stanford is about to meet his firstborn daughter, Irene Paisley, a home health aide who has unwittingly shown up for her first day of work to tend to the father she thought was dead. These Ghosts Are Family revolves around the consequences of Abel’s decision and tells the story of the Paisley family from colonial Jamaica to present-day Harlem. There is Vera, whose widowhood forced her into the role of a single mother. There are two daughters and a granddaughter who have never known they are related. And there are others, like the houseboy who loved Vera, whose lives might have taken different courses if not for Abel Paisley’s actions. This “rich and layered story” (Kirkus Reviews) explores the ways each character wrestles with their ghosts and struggles to forge independent identities outside of the family and their trauma. The result is a “beguiling…vividly drawn, and compelling” (BookPage, starred review) portrait of a family and individuals caught in the sweep of history, slavery, migration, and the more personal dramas of infidelity, lost love, and regret.

A Novel

These Ghosts Are Family

Sophia Jara

*An Entertainment Weekly, Millions, and LitHub Most-Anticipated Book of 2020 pick* *A Rumpus and Electric Literature Most-Anticipated Debut of 2020 pick* *A Ms. Magazine Top Feminist Book Coming Out in 2020* *A BookRiot Best Book Club Pick of 2020* *A Celadon Books Most-Anticipated Novel of 2020* *A Lily Top Book to Read by Women in 2020 Selection* *A Buzz Magazine Top New Book of the New Decade* *A She Reads Most-Anticipated Historical Fiction Pick of 2020* A transporting debut novel that reveals the ways in which a Jamaican family forms and fractures over generations, in the tradition of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Stanford Solomon has a shocking, thirty-year-old secret. And it’s about to change the lives of everyone around him. Stanford Solomon is actually Abel Paisley, a man who faked his own death and stole the identity of his best friend. And now, nearing the end of his life, Stanford is about to meet his firstborn daughter, Irene Paisley, a home health aide who has unwittingly shown up for her first day of work to tend to the father she thought was dead. These Ghosts Are Family revolves around the consequences of Abel’s decision and tells the story of the Paisley family from colonial Jamaica to present day Harlem. There is Vera, whose widowhood forced her into the role of single mother. There are two daughters and a granddaughter who have never known they are related. And there are others, like the house boy who loved Vera, whose lives might have taken different courses if not for Abel Paisley’s actions. These Ghosts Are Family explores the ways each character wrestles with their ghosts and struggles to forge independent identities outside of the family and their trauma. The result is an engrossing portrait of a family and individuals caught in the sweep of history, slavery, migration, and the more personal dramas of infidelity, lost love, and regret. This electric and luminous family saga announces the arrival of a new American talent.

Amelia C 

Ms. Card’s writing is strong and takes you on a journey with her words! I was drawn in to the story of this family; to be fair i am drawn to family stories especially the ones that came before, that are often not retold (for various reasons). I was invested in Abel’s (Stanford Solomon) life and his journey of deception and how the deception had “trickled down” to generations after. 
I also felt as though the book would (could have) been a compilation of short stories or vignettes. 
Great book all in all!

altlovesbooks

I received a copy of this book free through Goodreads Giveaways.

I didn't really care for this book as much as the premise and summary appealed to me. The format of the book changed up nearly every chapter, and it ended up reading more like a collection of short stories involving a (very) loosely connected family than a cohesive whole. The point of view changed every chapter to feature another member of the family, so I never really felt connected with any of them to the point where I cared how everything fit together. The ending was also a bit of a letdown considering the buildup that was the first few chapters.

All that said, the prose was very well written, and I really felt drawn into some of the scenes the author wrote, despite the fact that I didn't really care about the people in them. There were some unexpected turns that were interesting in the chapter, but mattered very little once you moved onto the next. I'd be interested to see another book by this author with a more cohesive plot thread throughout.

Fraser Simons

I love books that play around with structure and conventional narratives, so I was fairly confident going in I would like this quite a bit. It jumps around in time and place, occupying different family members in a complicated and fraught family. Slowly giving more context to events eluded to or talked about as it progresses. 

It explores some heavy themes and feels deeply rooted in interrogating our notions of selfhood as it pertains to our history, and it does so quite effectively, in my opinion. It certainly feels less accessible to the average reader, but it’s a trade off that works. The more you stick with it, the more, literally, everything makes sense. Making the first bits of the novel the most difficult to situate the reader is a bold approach. Some people will be turned off. For me, it was just the right amount of challenge. I like it when a book assumes you’re alright working for your meal. It’s certainly a tightrope act doing so, but it is also tried and true satisfaction, given how many canonized books take this approach. 

This manages to be pretty deeply affecting despite hopping about, also a hard task. I recently tried to read Cloud Cuckoo Land and it felt so rootless I just didn’t care about anything that was happening. Chapters here vary in length, but never outstay their welcome while still preparing you for a transitory journey (after the onboarding of the structure initially, of course). 

I think, had the voice resonated with me a little more this might have been a five star read. It does everything I’m looking for in a book. I tend to be more interested in structural elements, typically. But the X factor every time seems to just be an elusive quality where the prose hook you or not. I kept reading and enjoyed doing so. But neither can I say I was engrossed. But if this is a debut, what an achievement already. The refinement of prose should come along with the next book; I hope there will be a next! All the really difficult craft work is already so compelling. I definitely recommend it.

Charlotte Rayfield

This book was odd but intriguing telling the story of one man’s mistake and it’s consequences not only only on the present day but also the past. Very odd and confusing ending. Definitely worth your time!

Zoe Smolen

This book is beautiful! The way this book is written is almost as if it's a set of short stories that eventually intertwine. While the cast of characters are (often, but not always) the same from chapter to chapter, each chapter tells a new story from a new perspective. A stunning debut.

Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Tejumola Niquel

I wanted to love this, but I just didn’t. I see a lot of reviews complaining about the accents which to me was actually helpful to read to understand the nuance of what they were trying to say rather than to read it in perfect English. There were some chapters that were 5 stars, but overall I did not enjoy myself and found myself reading to be done, not reading to enjoy.

Sophia Jara &
These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card

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Sophia Jara &These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card

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Sophia Jara &
These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card