Lost Seeds: The Beginning

by Teresa Mosley Sebastian

A novel chronicling the strained relationship between two brothers born into the remnants of their parents’ former enslavement. One brother seems to overcome, while the other descends further into adversity. What happens when they are forced to face each other?

Lost Seeds is the story of two brothers, Dublin and Timothy Brisco, born into poverty at the turn of the twentieth century to formerly enslaved parents. From birth, they witness firsthand the atrocities their parents had to endure and themselves experience the continued struggles of being Black in the South. Encounters with physical abuse, mental illness, and racism define the brothers’ lives, and despite their best efforts to survive, the seeds of slavery’s wickedness inevitably spawn and lead the two down separate paths. Dublin attempts to overcome his tragic past and hopes to elevate his place in life by escaping oppression and adapting to segregated societal life, while Timothy openly displays his wounds, attempts to reject his Black identity, and descends into a fog of mental illness. The two brothers never discuss their journeys, nor the lifetime of insecurity and violence they experienced, ultimately creating an impassable chasm in their relationship.

Eventually, at the request of their mother, Dublin reluctantly permits Timothy to live on his family’s land in a one-room windowless shack. Although they are once again united on the same property, their feelings of indifference and the distance between the two persist.

Will their relationship forever be lost to the traumas of their past, or will they be able to come together and be each other’s strength in the face of the cruelties of their world? Because no matter how much time or distance passes, the seeds of brotherhood never die.

Genres: Fiction

199 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 25, 2023

About the author

I was born in Southern Illinois where some of the Lost Seeds: The Beginning takes place. My parents and grandparents encouraged music, reading and creativity. I started playing the piano at four years old, and have a lifelong love affair with books. These propensities are with me in adulthood. Putting words to the human life around me is an innate fascination. When my children were young, I made up stories about characters that travelled around the world and immersed myself in the imaginations of Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. I now create random jingles for my granddaughter. Follow this site for expressions, thought sharing and updates. After all…legacies live in stories.

Lost Seeds: The Beginning, was awarded The B.R.A.G. Medallion, a prestigious seal of approval from The Book Readers Appreciation Group, (B.R.A.G.) calling the book “a compelling novel that was hard to put down.” It also received several other accolades, including a finalist in the 2025 Feathered Quill Book Award, a 2024 IPPY Bronze Award recipient, a finalist status in the 2024 Best Book Awards American Book Fest, and a finalist for the 2023 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards. The series continues to resonate with readers, as evidenced by Lost Seeds: The Legacy, earning a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree designation, finalist spot in the 2025 Feathered Quill Book Awards and 2024 Best Book Awards American Book Fest.

When I am not writing, I am an attorney, entrepreneur, and law school professor.

Reviews

[Lisa Patrick Harrod · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a Goodreads Giveaway win. Rating at a 3.5. I liked the storyline of the two brothers and the different paths their lives took. But the manner of writing which the author used was not for me. Unemotional interactions between the characters. Short and to the point. It felt lacking. Interesting and educational but I did not connect emotionally with the tragedies that ensued. Another review used the word “stilted” as a writing style and I would agree.

[Phyllis | Mocha Drop · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is my introduction to Teresa Mosley Sebastian and this work, Lost Seeds: The Beginning, is seemingly the first of a multi-generational family saga that encapsulates not only the reasons but the who, what, when and how the Great Migration began and grew momentum as families escaped to Northern cities and Canada in the early Twentieth century.

Lost Seeds opens in the rural South with an impoverished sharecropping family (barely one generation from slavery) who are subjugated to the whims of a former owner (and his henchmen) who not only profit from this family’s labor (in a system designed to keep them perpetually indebted and destitute), but also berates and humiliates the father and sons by openly and freely sexually exploiting the mother and daughters on a regular basis. Even with the best intentions to flee from this abuse and madness, the family is unfortunately met with an even greater unimaginable loss.

While many are touched in this ill-fated odyssey, Sebastian focuses primarily on two half-brothers, a darker-complexioned Dublin (Dub) and much lighter-complected (passable) Timothy (Tim) who is obviously fathered by the former landowner (or one of his henchmen). Each grapples with aftereffects of what is now termed “generational trauma.” Sadly, there is no counseling for mental health, no therapy sessions to vent, no coping mechanisms to employ. Their parents self-medicate with alcohol and their mother becomes a social pariah; Dub goes-along to get-along to gain respectability, the best positions available to a black man at the time (he has a wife and many children to support) and increase social status at the risk of alienating his people and becoming another type of pariah: Uncle Tom and sellout. Tim covets the life of whites, he works and studies hard, does all the “right” things, and when his best intentions are thwarted (due to nothing more than racist policies), he experiments with “passing,” at a cost.

I immediately noted that Sebastian’s writing style is succinct and unembellished which does not diminish the atrocities and hardships endured by African Americans in this era. In fact, it renders a somewhat delayed reaction because it takes a few seconds to process the cruelty, the evil, the pain of the just-read passages. This book is layered and covers many overt and covert themes. I appreciated the “straight, no chaser” storytelling approach, but it may be perceived as a bit stilted for some.

My rating: 3/3.5

Thanks to the publisher, Girl Friday, and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win the Goodreads giveaway for this book. The flow of this book was amazing, and I actually read it in one day!

This book does a great job showing the challenges of life for those after the abolishment of slavery and the generations that followed.

It encapsulates the complex traumas that came from each generation that followed slavery, specifically stemming from Southern America starting in 1860’s. The book leads us all the way through to the late 1920’s, and although slavery was gone the racism and daily struggles as an African America and the daily fight to create your destiny.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was an honor to get to read a debut novel by Teresa. I’m looking forward to reading book 2!

[Daoud M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads Giveaway and would rate it a 3.5. The storyline, which follows two brothers and the diverging paths their lives take, is intriguing and educational. However, the author's writing style did not resonate with me. The interactions between characters felt unemotional and the prose was short and to the point, leaving the narrative feeling somewhat lacking. While the story had its merits, I struggled to connect emotionally with the tragedies that unfolded. Another reviewer described the writing as "stilted," and I would concur with that assessment.

[Cheryl Inkelaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The characters were well defined and lead interesting lives. The storyline was easy to follow. Can't wait for the next installment!