When the Reckoning Comes A Novel
When the Reckoning Comes A Novel by LaTanya McQueen is a haunting exploration of history and memory, set to be published by HarperCollins Publishers in 2024. This 256-page novel follows Mira, a black woman returning to her small, segregated hometown for a plantation wedding, where she confronts the blood-soaked history of the land and reconnects with friends from her past. As Mira navigates the complexities of her relationships and the eerie atmosphere of the Woodsman plantation, she is drawn into a narrative that intertwines personal and collective histories.
Readers will find a blend of contemporary and supernatural elements as Mira grapples with her past, including the ghostly memories of a traumatic event that once threatened her friend Jesse’s future. The novel delves into themes of race, friendship, and the haunting legacy of history, set against the backdrop of a plantation that has been transformed yet remains a monument to its oppressive past. As the wedding weekend unfolds, Mira, Jesse, and Celine must confront their shared history and the dark secrets that linger, making this edition a thought-provoking addition to the genres of fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Official synopsis Publisher
“So deliciously uncomfortable there were moments where I had to put the book down, take a deep breath, and like Mira, its protagonist, urge myself to go further. This is a novel, like Octavia Butler’s Kindred, that reminds its readers that as long as people don’t acknowledge how much of the past still shapes the present, it will bring its whips, its hatchets, and fists to make us learn.”–Megan Giddings, author of Lakewood
A haunting novel about a black woman who returns to her hometown for a plantation wedding and the horror that ensues as she reconnects with the blood-soaked history of the land and the best friends she left behind now available as a Harper Perennial Olive Edition.
More than a decade ago, Mira fled her small, segregated hometown in the south to forget. With every mile she traveled, she distanced herself from her past: from her best friend Celine, mocked by their town as the only white girl with black friends; from her old neighborhood; from the eerie Woodsman plantation rumored to be haunted by the spirits of slaves; from the terrifying memory of a ghost she saw that terrible day when a dare-gone-wrong almost got Jesse–the boy she secretly loved–arrested for murder.
But now Mira is back in Kipsen to attend Celine’s wedding at the plantation, which has been transformed into a lush vacation resort. Mira hopes to reconnect with her friends, and especially, Jesse, to finally tell him the truth about her feelings and the events of that devastating long-ago day.
But for all its fancy renovations, the Woodsman remains a monument to its oppressive racist history. The bar serves antebellum drinks, entertainment includes horrifying reenactments, and the service staff is nearly all black. Yet the darkest elements of the plantation’s past have been carefully erased–rumors that slaves were tortured mercilessly and that ghosts roam the lands, seeking vengeance on the descendants of those who tormented them, which includes most of the wedding guests.
As the weekend unfolds, Mira, Jesse, and Celine are forced to acknowledge their history together, and to save themselves from what is to come.
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