Amity

Amity by Nathan Harris, 320 pages

While the Civil War is over, in New Orleans in 1866, the reins are still pretty tight on the freedmen who are still working for their former masters. Such is the case with Coleman, a bookish former slave, and his protective sister, June, who still work for the Harpers. Then Mr. Harper takes June with him on a search for a riches in Mexico, leaving his wife and adult daughter behind. Months later, Coleman accompanies the Harper women on an ill-fated trip west, hoping to find June, who has finally escaped Mr. Harper's handsy clutches.

This book looks at a post-Civil War world that isn't often explored, that of westward expansion through the eyes of emancipated people who are trying to navigate their newfound, and often very fragile, freedom. It's richly told, with gorgeous language — just what you'd expect from the author of the multiple award-winning literary gem, The Sweetness of Water. An intriguing story to ponder.

The Humanity Archive

The Humanity Archive: Recovering the Soul of Black History from a Whitewashed American Myth by Jermaine Fowler (2023) 416 pages

I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla narrated by the author. The book was recommended by a friend. I was unfamiliar with the author's podcast that is also called "The Humanity Archive." I love that the author loves libraries. Fowler has read much about history and picks out gems of stories featuring Black experience from across the breadth of history. In America, in particular, many of these examples have been forgotten or actively whitewashed. Fowler is an excellent storyteller. There are both traumatic stories and stories of excellence. Both injustices and uplift are important for building empathy with our fellow humans.
 

The Conductors

The Conductors by Nicole Glover, 422 pages

During the war, Hetty and her husband Benjy used their celestial magic skills to help slaves escape to freedom. Now that the war is over, they've settled in Philadelphia, where they take on investigative cases ranging from finding loved ones to dealing with the odd dead body. When the body of a prominent member of the Philadelphia Black community turns up with a cursed sigil carved into his body, Hetty and Benjy are on the case, one that makes them suspect everyone around them.

This was an intriguing premise for a novel, and I love that Glover used the same constellations that helped so many escape slavery as the basis for her magical ideas. Honestly, I would have loved to get more detail about that practice. Instead, Glover seemed to try to juggle too many ideas and plotlines, making the fantasy element suffer. As such, this one's hard to categorize: it's a historical mystery with fantasy elements? Not bad, but also not the best fantasy I've read recently.