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Jesmyn Ward's account of an enslaved girl details horrors of slavery but fails to provide adequate character development

  • Writer: Mallory
    Mallory
  • Mar 11, 2024
  • 3 min read

Let Us Descend, Jesmyn Ward

Scribner, October 24, 2023, 320 Pages


I was definitely excited for this book but knew I was about to embark on a journey with difficult topics and descriptions. Jesmyn Ward is an excellent writer, so I was ready to be taken through dark times in American history and given an unfiltered look at this ugly blemish on our past. All of these preconceived notions were true. The bulk of the story is taken up with the arduous journey Arese/Annis undergoes when she is eventually sold off of the plantation in the Carolinas - her father's estate. She focuses on her mother's footsteps before her, as her mother was sold off in the same fashion in a brief but gut-wrenching account just before Annis was sold, after her daring to enjoy love and comfort with fellow slave Safi. In this desperation to be comforted by the nurturing love of a mother, Annis sees Aza, a spiritual being who at first provides comfort and answers, and then becomes a bit of a drain on Annis.


For me, Aza is the worst part of the story, a distraction from the living and all that is around Annis. The focus on Aza thus made the latter half of this novel a bit of a chore. Mary and Esther, Emil and Bastian, even Phyllis all fade from the story and serve as nothing more than filler which is a real shame as their stories are worth telling and exploring more fully. No slave journey is the same, and providing perspective of all that they endured is an important piece of this segment of history. Annis isn't making any real connections with those who she would certainly be reaching out for connection given she is starved for love that was given over by Safi and Annis' mother. For me, this is especially so given the months-long journey by foot they trekked from the plantation, through Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama to finally land in New Orleans, Louisiana. There are brief moments of sharing, but most of the story reflects Annis' interactions with ghosts and spirits - only one of whom speaks and takes an image of a person. The others are simply witnessed, or sensed and absorbed by Annis. Thus we miss out on various voices.


I enjoyed learning about Mama Aza, Annis' grandmother, and her roots with the Dahomey warriors - the Agojie. This sense of incredible power, strength and skill is understated in the novel in how it is the opposite of generational trauma. I believe that Annis drew upon her family history and used it to power through her difficult journeys and the obstacles and abuse she faced. I wish there was more to this from Ward. I wish Annis had had more conversations with other characters in the book to inspire them to draw up that power and claim it, which was within reach of the story as the safe haven of the Swamp kept surfacing. Notably, most of the characters were female and drawing up on that feminine strength and that ancestry of these people would have been an excellent supplement to offer the story.


The tale as a whole felt sluggish, with the release of it all a bit too quick. (I have no idea why Mary, Esther, and Annis are on the riverbank, for instance, or how Annis suddenly ties together a raft.) I did appreciate and recognize the relation to Dante's Inferno and perhaps that same "stuck" feeling was meant to convey the trapped, swirling journey and to be reminiscent of the classic, but likely not. I enjoyed A Mercy by Toni Morrison more (review here) because by the end, I felt that I knew all of the characters. Here, I received only mere glimpses.


Have you read this novel? What did you think? Do you agree with my thoughts or have a fresh perspective? I'd love to hear it!


 
 
 

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