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Night Wherever We Go
A RECOMMENDED READ The Washington Post Atlanta Journal-Constitution CrimeReads Library Journal
A gripping, radically intimate debut novel about a group of enslaved women staging a covert rebellion against their owners
On a struggling Texas plantation, six enslaved women slip from their sleeping quarters and gather in the woods under the cover of night. The Lucys—as they call the plantation owners, after Lucifer himself—have decided to turn around the farm’s bleak financial prospects by making the women bear children. They have hired a “stockman” to impregnate them. But the women are determined to protect themselves.
Now each of the six faces a choice. Nan, the doctoring woman, has brought a sack of cotton root clippings that can stave off children when chewed daily. If they all take part, the Lucys may give up and send the stockman away. But a pregnancy for any of them will only encourage the Lucys further. And should their plan be discovered, the consequences will be severe.
Visceral and arresting, Night Wherever We Go illuminates each woman’s individual trials and desires while painting a subversive portrait of collective defiance. Unflinching in her portrayal of America’s gravest injustices, while also deeply attentive to the transcendence, love, and solidarity of women whose interior lives have been underexplored, Tracey Rose Peyton creates a story of unforgettable power.
A gripping, radically intimate debut novel about a group of enslaved women staging a covert rebellion against their owners
On a struggling Texas plantation, six enslaved women slip from their sleeping quarters and gather in the woods under the cover of night. The Lucys—as they call the plantation owners, after Lucifer himself—have decided to turn around the farm’s bleak financial prospects by making the women bear children. They have hired a “stockman” to impregnate them. But the women are determined to protect themselves.
Now each of the six faces a choice. Nan, the doctoring woman, has brought a sack of cotton root clippings that can stave off children when chewed daily. If they all take part, the Lucys may give up and send the stockman away. But a pregnancy for any of them will only encourage the Lucys further. And should their plan be discovered, the consequences will be severe.
Visceral and arresting, Night Wherever We Go illuminates each woman’s individual trials and desires while painting a subversive portrait of collective defiance. Unflinching in her portrayal of America’s gravest injustices, while also deeply attentive to the transcendence, love, and solidarity of women whose interior lives have been underexplored, Tracey Rose Peyton creates a story of unforgettable power.
304 pages, Paperback
First published April 27, 2023
262 people are currently reading
20378 people want to read
About the author
Tracey Rose Peyton
3 books107 followersTracey Rose Peyton received her MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at University of Texas-Austin and her BA from Howard University. She’s an alum of VONA/Voices, Callaloo, and Tinhouse and received fellowships from Hedgebrook and Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica, American Short Fiction, Prairie Schooner, Best American Short Stories 2021, and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 554 reviews
February 27, 2023
In a Nutshell: Some hits, some misses. A good debut attempt, but didn’t click as well as I had wanted it to. Interesting content though.
Story synopsis:
Where the book worked for me:
✔ As is to be expected in historical slave narratives, there are plenty of dark and gritty moments. The book offers a glimpse of the thoughts behind the women whose lives were not in their control and yet who tried so hard to maintain control over it in whatever limited ways they could. One of my favourite mutinous act by them was their habit of referring to the Harlows as ‘Lucys’, short for Lucifer, the reason being that their masters were ‘spawn of the devil’, lol.
✔ The camaraderie between the six enslaved women comes out quite well. Unlike many such books, this one doesn’t club them into a homogenous “African” mould but reminds us that slaves did come from different parts of the continent and treats them distinctly. It also shows their antagonistic sides rather than depicting them as being always in sync with each other. I loved this realism.
✔ The era seems to have been captured quite authentically, with the lifestyle of both master and slave coming out well. I never knew of a stockman, so to read about his role in increasing the slaves count was shocking.
✔ Of the six women slaves, Nan – the oldest- has the most compelling track. With her love for traditions and her knowledge about humankind, she makes for an interesting protagonist. The youngest of the slaves, Sarah, also gets a meaty track.
✔ Unlike most such books, the Harlows aren’t wealthy landowners but in great financial difficulties, trying their best to survive. This makes their track a somewhat novel one, as it goes much beyond the typical physical punishment routines that we see in this genre and shows us why they did what they did without justifying their actions. The writing shows us the human side of the Harlows without making them seem stereotypical.
✔ The title and cover are perfect for the book.
Where the book could have worked better for me:
❌ The blurb made the book sound like a story of rebellion. But it was more of a survival story, with only tiny acts of mutiny. The blurb also makes the ‘stockman’ sound like a vital part of the plot, but his angle is more of a catalyst to the other events than the main track itself. In other words, good story but misleading blurb.
❌ Except for Sarah and Nan, the other women don’t get much opportunity to reveal their personality. The remaining four women – Patience, Alice, Lulu and Junie – are somewhat similar in voice, with only tiny facts to distinguish across them. Some of their tracks come to an abrupt end midway, and other women slaves enter the picture. So we don’t even get to know all of them well.
❌ The narrative, while mostly in a third person focussing on the slaves, tends to slip into the first person plural many times. The blurb makes it clear that there were six women slaves, and even when slaves enter or exit the plot, they are all referred to by name. So who is this unnamed first person narrator who tells us the story using “we”? That was an odd writing choice. Even if it intended to make us feel closer to the slaves, it should still have identified the speaker.
❌ The writing is too detached. I understand how this might work for some readers, as it keeps the brutalities on the proceedings somewhat impersonal. But I expected to be more touched by such a traumatising story, but the writing style left me feeling nothing.
❌ (Somewhat mixed feelings about this point, but slightly tilted towards the negative side, hence including it in this section.) Religion and faith find a regular mention in the arcs of the enslaved women and their masters. I liked how some of the women were shown as believing in their traditional gods/deities as well as the God from the Bible. However, I found the latter somewhat unconvincing. The time period of the story and the character detailing indicates that the women remember their home country, miss their original rituals and beliefs, and still follow their own traditions regardless of what the masters have imposed on them. Would they still be so free and willing to believe blindly in the Christian God and refer to him even before their own gods? Not sure. I am not saying it is impossible, but I am not convinced as well.
❌ While the start captivated me, the story soon becomes stuck in a quagmire. The writing gets somewhat repetitive in between. At times, the plot is more like an episodic series of events than a cohesive overarching story. Towards the end, the story moves again, but I didn’t like the ending. It was too hurried and clumsy, as if it had to wrap up everything as quickly as possible. Moreover, there’s one subtrack towards the end that goes in a direction away from the core narrative.
All in all, this is a decent debut novel, taking a not-so-common angle of the historical slave story and trying to give it a rebellious twist. It may not have been entirely successful in my eyes, but it certainly wasn’t a bad attempt. Maybe if I hadn’t read so many slave stories, I might have enjoyed this more. All I know is that I expected to be emotionally devastated after reading this, but I came away feeling just minimally saddened.
3.25 stars.
My thanks to Ecco and NetGalley for the DRC of “Night Wherever We Go”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
Trigger warnings: It’s a slave narrative, so it obviously doesn’t make for easy reading. Plenty of triggers, mostly related to physical and sexual abuse.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Story synopsis:
1852, Texas. The Harlow family owns a struggling plantation. To turn their fortunes around, they decide to hire a “stockman” to impregnate their women slaves. The enslaved women get to know of this scheme and group up to figure a way around the problem. Each of them has a different opinion about the issue, but they know that if they have to survive, they need to work as a team, and without being discovered.
The story comes to us in a limited third person narration of various characters, but at times, it dips into an unidentified first person plural.
Where the book worked for me:
✔ As is to be expected in historical slave narratives, there are plenty of dark and gritty moments. The book offers a glimpse of the thoughts behind the women whose lives were not in their control and yet who tried so hard to maintain control over it in whatever limited ways they could. One of my favourite mutinous act by them was their habit of referring to the Harlows as ‘Lucys’, short for Lucifer, the reason being that their masters were ‘spawn of the devil’, lol.
✔ The camaraderie between the six enslaved women comes out quite well. Unlike many such books, this one doesn’t club them into a homogenous “African” mould but reminds us that slaves did come from different parts of the continent and treats them distinctly. It also shows their antagonistic sides rather than depicting them as being always in sync with each other. I loved this realism.
✔ The era seems to have been captured quite authentically, with the lifestyle of both master and slave coming out well. I never knew of a stockman, so to read about his role in increasing the slaves count was shocking.
✔ Of the six women slaves, Nan – the oldest- has the most compelling track. With her love for traditions and her knowledge about humankind, she makes for an interesting protagonist. The youngest of the slaves, Sarah, also gets a meaty track.
✔ Unlike most such books, the Harlows aren’t wealthy landowners but in great financial difficulties, trying their best to survive. This makes their track a somewhat novel one, as it goes much beyond the typical physical punishment routines that we see in this genre and shows us why they did what they did without justifying their actions. The writing shows us the human side of the Harlows without making them seem stereotypical.
✔ The title and cover are perfect for the book.
Where the book could have worked better for me:
❌ The blurb made the book sound like a story of rebellion. But it was more of a survival story, with only tiny acts of mutiny. The blurb also makes the ‘stockman’ sound like a vital part of the plot, but his angle is more of a catalyst to the other events than the main track itself. In other words, good story but misleading blurb.
❌ Except for Sarah and Nan, the other women don’t get much opportunity to reveal their personality. The remaining four women – Patience, Alice, Lulu and Junie – are somewhat similar in voice, with only tiny facts to distinguish across them. Some of their tracks come to an abrupt end midway, and other women slaves enter the picture. So we don’t even get to know all of them well.
❌ The narrative, while mostly in a third person focussing on the slaves, tends to slip into the first person plural many times. The blurb makes it clear that there were six women slaves, and even when slaves enter or exit the plot, they are all referred to by name. So who is this unnamed first person narrator who tells us the story using “we”? That was an odd writing choice. Even if it intended to make us feel closer to the slaves, it should still have identified the speaker.
❌ The writing is too detached. I understand how this might work for some readers, as it keeps the brutalities on the proceedings somewhat impersonal. But I expected to be more touched by such a traumatising story, but the writing style left me feeling nothing.
❌ (Somewhat mixed feelings about this point, but slightly tilted towards the negative side, hence including it in this section.) Religion and faith find a regular mention in the arcs of the enslaved women and their masters. I liked how some of the women were shown as believing in their traditional gods/deities as well as the God from the Bible. However, I found the latter somewhat unconvincing. The time period of the story and the character detailing indicates that the women remember their home country, miss their original rituals and beliefs, and still follow their own traditions regardless of what the masters have imposed on them. Would they still be so free and willing to believe blindly in the Christian God and refer to him even before their own gods? Not sure. I am not saying it is impossible, but I am not convinced as well.
❌ While the start captivated me, the story soon becomes stuck in a quagmire. The writing gets somewhat repetitive in between. At times, the plot is more like an episodic series of events than a cohesive overarching story. Towards the end, the story moves again, but I didn’t like the ending. It was too hurried and clumsy, as if it had to wrap up everything as quickly as possible. Moreover, there’s one subtrack towards the end that goes in a direction away from the core narrative.
All in all, this is a decent debut novel, taking a not-so-common angle of the historical slave story and trying to give it a rebellious twist. It may not have been entirely successful in my eyes, but it certainly wasn’t a bad attempt. Maybe if I hadn’t read so many slave stories, I might have enjoyed this more. All I know is that I expected to be emotionally devastated after reading this, but I came away feeling just minimally saddened.
3.25 stars.
My thanks to Ecco and NetGalley for the DRC of “Night Wherever We Go”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
Trigger warnings: It’s a slave narrative, so it obviously doesn’t make for easy reading. Plenty of triggers, mostly related to physical and sexual abuse.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
September 29, 2022
I needed a moment - correction: several moments to gather myself after closing Night Wherever We Go - it is one that (in my opinion) truly surpasses the publisher’s synopsis; including deep and heavy themes with such adept handling that after the opening chapters I paused to research the author, Tracey Rose Peyton, and her inspiration for this novel.
Charles and Lizzie Harlow attempt to escape debt incurred at their depleted Georgia farm to start anew in Texas with Junie, a dowry gift, in tow with their young children and few scant belongings. A desperate (but not too bright) Charles heeds advice from a seasoned planter – advice that seems easy to implement and will guarantee fast fortune via high return-on-investment and fairly quick turn-around time. He impulsively purchases only women: an obviously fruitful Patience (and her young son, Silas), Alice, Lulu, a teenaged Serah to “breed” children for profit and an aged Nan, a notable midwife, cook, and skilled healer. Not only are these women expected to perform the hard and demanding field work (usually reserved for men), but they must also endure humiliating examinations to assess their fertility, inspected monthly, and are forced (at times under Charles’ watchful eye) to copulate with strange men for the sole purpose of becoming pregnant. Toiling in the harsh, unforgiving Texas climate with cruel owners, the women's differences dually dissipate and strengthen their bond. They agree to a pact to reclaim some form of agency over their bodies which by law is not their own. It is a calculated and dangerous plan - one that requires secrecy and diligence.
The challenges surrounding the pregnancy-resistance theme are paramount because Peyton brilliantly places and paces this “watched pot” plot. The reader knows “the pot” will eventually and inevitably spill over; however, it is the nail-biting anticipation of the how, who, when of the discovery and the presumed severe consequences thereafter, that keeps the reader turning pages. The added bonuses are the various sub-plots with strong supporting characters that elevate and celebrate love in hopeless places, the acts of defiance (no matter how infinitesimal), the power of faith in the old gods (and new) to sustain and heal, the longing and coping for lost family/loved ones, and the hopes and dreams of the enslaved. The novel has breadth and depth - spanning the Georgian, Texan, and Mexican landscapes and locales that at times seemed like characters themselves; each giving and taking nourishment and shelter at whim. It glimpses into the complicated and layered interrelationships of White settlers, Mexicans, Native Americans, the Freed, Free-born and enslaved Africans.
Overall, a beautiful book about America’s ugly past. I anxiously await Tracey Rose Peyton’s next release - hopefully it will be soon!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.
Charles and Lizzie Harlow attempt to escape debt incurred at their depleted Georgia farm to start anew in Texas with Junie, a dowry gift, in tow with their young children and few scant belongings. A desperate (but not too bright) Charles heeds advice from a seasoned planter – advice that seems easy to implement and will guarantee fast fortune via high return-on-investment and fairly quick turn-around time. He impulsively purchases only women: an obviously fruitful Patience (and her young son, Silas), Alice, Lulu, a teenaged Serah to “breed” children for profit and an aged Nan, a notable midwife, cook, and skilled healer. Not only are these women expected to perform the hard and demanding field work (usually reserved for men), but they must also endure humiliating examinations to assess their fertility, inspected monthly, and are forced (at times under Charles’ watchful eye) to copulate with strange men for the sole purpose of becoming pregnant. Toiling in the harsh, unforgiving Texas climate with cruel owners, the women's differences dually dissipate and strengthen their bond. They agree to a pact to reclaim some form of agency over their bodies which by law is not their own. It is a calculated and dangerous plan - one that requires secrecy and diligence.
The challenges surrounding the pregnancy-resistance theme are paramount because Peyton brilliantly places and paces this “watched pot” plot. The reader knows “the pot” will eventually and inevitably spill over; however, it is the nail-biting anticipation of the how, who, when of the discovery and the presumed severe consequences thereafter, that keeps the reader turning pages. The added bonuses are the various sub-plots with strong supporting characters that elevate and celebrate love in hopeless places, the acts of defiance (no matter how infinitesimal), the power of faith in the old gods (and new) to sustain and heal, the longing and coping for lost family/loved ones, and the hopes and dreams of the enslaved. The novel has breadth and depth - spanning the Georgian, Texan, and Mexican landscapes and locales that at times seemed like characters themselves; each giving and taking nourishment and shelter at whim. It glimpses into the complicated and layered interrelationships of White settlers, Mexicans, Native Americans, the Freed, Free-born and enslaved Africans.
Overall, a beautiful book about America’s ugly past. I anxiously await Tracey Rose Peyton’s next release - hopefully it will be soon!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.
February 7, 2023
'Night Wherever We Go' is as dark as it is illuminating. Slavery is never an easy topic to discuss. This story conveys the absolute bewilderment slaves must have felt being plucked from their homeland so far away, and dropped into a new land, new culture, and new rules; variables that continually moved according to the whims of their owners and the constant exchange of ownership. 'And what she understood most about all these white men with guns in this strange and new country was how arbitrary and varied their cruelty could be.' Slaves were treated as one cohesive group of Black Africans but in reality, each came from a different country and had different languages, religions, and cultures. However, they were expected to all get along and form a ragtag community of sorts, 'an exhaustive state of seething. Made only worse by the fact we were stuck together...'.
The book follows six enslaved women, living on a farm in Texas, in the years leading up to the Civil War. They are owned by the Harlows, 'kin of the devil in the most wretched place most of us have known'. The Harlows are poor farmers, often moving to escape debt, only to fail in another location. An uncle wisely tells Charles Harlow to, 'invest in women. They are cheaper than men and more versatile...And best of all, they can breed'. The Harlow's desperation sinks to a new level of depravity; bringing in a 'stockman' to breed more workers, like cattle in a yard. 'You ever seen them put a bull to a heifer? They put them together over and over again.' The women try and work together to claim control over their bodies. Each of them though has their own history to battle against.
The story begins with third-person narration but increasingly zeroes in on the first-person storytelling of each character. As time goes on, everyone is ruled by fear and mistrust. The white slave owners rule by fear, but also live in fear; locking up their slaves at night, before locking themselves in too. 'Evil was always hungry...' Everything begins to spiral toward a climax.
Tracey Rose Peyton delivers, in 300 pages a dense, gripping story. For the women in the story, it really is 'Night Wherever We Go'. For me, this was a great work of literary and historical fiction.
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction for the opportunity to read and review this book.
The book follows six enslaved women, living on a farm in Texas, in the years leading up to the Civil War. They are owned by the Harlows, 'kin of the devil in the most wretched place most of us have known'. The Harlows are poor farmers, often moving to escape debt, only to fail in another location. An uncle wisely tells Charles Harlow to, 'invest in women. They are cheaper than men and more versatile...And best of all, they can breed'. The Harlow's desperation sinks to a new level of depravity; bringing in a 'stockman' to breed more workers, like cattle in a yard. 'You ever seen them put a bull to a heifer? They put them together over and over again.' The women try and work together to claim control over their bodies. Each of them though has their own history to battle against.
The story begins with third-person narration but increasingly zeroes in on the first-person storytelling of each character. As time goes on, everyone is ruled by fear and mistrust. The white slave owners rule by fear, but also live in fear; locking up their slaves at night, before locking themselves in too. 'Evil was always hungry...' Everything begins to spiral toward a climax.
Tracey Rose Peyton delivers, in 300 pages a dense, gripping story. For the women in the story, it really is 'Night Wherever We Go'. For me, this was a great work of literary and historical fiction.
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction for the opportunity to read and review this book.
February 27, 2023
Whew, this is emotive and hard-hitting! Not that other slave narratives are not, but Peyton has gone all out on the intimate and personal impacts of slavery on a small group of women, and that granular focus pays off big time.
This really drills down into what it means to be a chattel with no bodily boundaries or autonomies: especially pertinent here is the issue of child-bearing. Children born through consensual relationships are themselves chattel slaves to a inhumane owner and may be 'lost' to their mother; but, possibly more pernicious, is the concept of 'breeders': Black men who are forced to act as studs to impregnate slave women in order to augment the owner's slave holding - institutionalised rape, if you like.
Peyton gets that difficult balance right between the depictions of raw brutalities and giving us something to hold onto through the succouring relationships of the women. With issues of motherhood, fertility and a woman's right to choose back in our headlines, it's fascinating that any limited resistance available to the enslaved women here is via some kind of tentative control over their own bodies.
This kind of intimate, personal, female slave narrative is always going to be in the shade of Toni Morrison's kick-in-the-gut Beloved but Peyton writes into a space of her own with her graceful, natural prose and that searing tragic-triumphant ending.
Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC via NetGalley
This really drills down into what it means to be a chattel with no bodily boundaries or autonomies: especially pertinent here is the issue of child-bearing. Children born through consensual relationships are themselves chattel slaves to a inhumane owner and may be 'lost' to their mother; but, possibly more pernicious, is the concept of 'breeders': Black men who are forced to act as studs to impregnate slave women in order to augment the owner's slave holding - institutionalised rape, if you like.
Peyton gets that difficult balance right between the depictions of raw brutalities and giving us something to hold onto through the succouring relationships of the women. With issues of motherhood, fertility and a woman's right to choose back in our headlines, it's fascinating that any limited resistance available to the enslaved women here is via some kind of tentative control over their own bodies.
This kind of intimate, personal, female slave narrative is always going to be in the shade of Toni Morrison's kick-in-the-gut Beloved but Peyton writes into a space of her own with her graceful, natural prose and that searing tragic-triumphant ending.
Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC via NetGalley
June 22, 2023
In person book club read. 3.5 rounded down.
I like the story better than how it was told. I'll try to explain.
The story really gave slavery a human face or revealed how inhumane it was particularly for women. In focusing on 6 different slave women the author gave voice to how often families were split, children were sold and sent far away, and how little choice women had in who and how their bodies were used.
The six slave women end up on one poor farm in Texas. Their owner hopes to grow cotton in an environment that can rarely supply the rain this crop needs. When the crop fails he hopes to make up the loss by having his slaves impregnated and soon selling off the off spring. When a stud slave is rented for this, the women must come up with a way to disrupt this plan. A really good story that says much about slavery and the plight of women.
I felt there were two problems in the telling. First, two types of point of view were used. The singular point of view of each woman was used to present current feelings and individual backstories but it alternated with a more universal point of view that was quite confusing. When this universal "We" was used it was hard to tell exactly who was speaking and how they could speak for the group as a whole as each woman had a unique story to tell.
Secondly while the book is short (295 pages) there is much story to tell and the ending seemed a little rushed. What started out so strong both in character and plot seemed to drag in the middle and suddenly was over.
A very good debut. Easy to read and quite good with a unique story to tell.
I like the story better than how it was told. I'll try to explain.
The story really gave slavery a human face or revealed how inhumane it was particularly for women. In focusing on 6 different slave women the author gave voice to how often families were split, children were sold and sent far away, and how little choice women had in who and how their bodies were used.
The six slave women end up on one poor farm in Texas. Their owner hopes to grow cotton in an environment that can rarely supply the rain this crop needs. When the crop fails he hopes to make up the loss by having his slaves impregnated and soon selling off the off spring. When a stud slave is rented for this, the women must come up with a way to disrupt this plan. A really good story that says much about slavery and the plight of women.
I felt there were two problems in the telling. First, two types of point of view were used. The singular point of view of each woman was used to present current feelings and individual backstories but it alternated with a more universal point of view that was quite confusing. When this universal "We" was used it was hard to tell exactly who was speaking and how they could speak for the group as a whole as each woman had a unique story to tell.
Secondly while the book is short (295 pages) there is much story to tell and the ending seemed a little rushed. What started out so strong both in character and plot seemed to drag in the middle and suddenly was over.
A very good debut. Easy to read and quite good with a unique story to tell.
March 7, 2025
Slavery narratives can be challenging ... they are difficult to read and need to be handled with special care. And I think this particular narrative is especially illuminating and dark. It's beautifully written but also brings to life the challenges and difficulties experienced by slaves in a way that I've not seen in many novels about slavery.
It's gritty, dark and heartbreaking in all the ways. It spoke to the complete and utter lack of control the women (and men) in this novel had in their lives due to slavery. It put words to aspects of their lack of onus that were very captivating to this reader. It allowed the reader an interesting view into the small ways these women were able to maintain some level of control over their lives. This novel also did a beautiful job of viewing the women in the novel as a compelling group with a level of camaraderie needed to get through the day in slavery, while also showing them to be challenging and difficult with one another. That blend of reality was lovely and well rendered. It also offered the balance of offering the reader the knowledge that they are each different - from different places, with different experiences, etc. I loved meeting each of them on their own terms ... and understanding their particular difficulties and struggles.
The interaction between these women and the family that owns them came across very realistically. And gave a lot of realistic context to those relationships and how perilous they are for both parties. The addition of a stockman to help grow the number of slaves owned by the family was interesting and complex. It makes sense that slave owners would try to increase their ownership in that way, but it wasn't something that I was aware of or had really considered, so, for me, it was a good addition to this novel.
All in all, I enjoyed this novel as much as you can for a novel about such harrowing and difficult things. It's very much a survival story about these women and their lives. I wish each of them had been expanded upon a bit more. I liked what I got of each of them, but felt like I would have enjoyed even more of them. I wish the narrative voice had been a bit more concise. It felt a bit all over the place at times. I'd also say that the ending felt rather abrupt for me. It felt a bit clumsy almost, like the author was quick to get it to a conclusion and just pushed the narrative to do so. And I also felt like the writing didn't feel as close as you'd expect given the narrative. It was detached in some way or something. I can't quite put my words on it but that's the feeling that I was left with. This is part of the reason it didn't quite make it to the 5 star level for this reader. However, I definitely think that it's a good book, one definitely worth reading. I know that it's a debut so perhaps that will come with time for this particular writer. I'm eager to see what's to come for her and will be waiting for further books!
It's gritty, dark and heartbreaking in all the ways. It spoke to the complete and utter lack of control the women (and men) in this novel had in their lives due to slavery. It put words to aspects of their lack of onus that were very captivating to this reader. It allowed the reader an interesting view into the small ways these women were able to maintain some level of control over their lives. This novel also did a beautiful job of viewing the women in the novel as a compelling group with a level of camaraderie needed to get through the day in slavery, while also showing them to be challenging and difficult with one another. That blend of reality was lovely and well rendered. It also offered the balance of offering the reader the knowledge that they are each different - from different places, with different experiences, etc. I loved meeting each of them on their own terms ... and understanding their particular difficulties and struggles.
The interaction between these women and the family that owns them came across very realistically. And gave a lot of realistic context to those relationships and how perilous they are for both parties. The addition of a stockman to help grow the number of slaves owned by the family was interesting and complex. It makes sense that slave owners would try to increase their ownership in that way, but it wasn't something that I was aware of or had really considered, so, for me, it was a good addition to this novel.
All in all, I enjoyed this novel as much as you can for a novel about such harrowing and difficult things. It's very much a survival story about these women and their lives. I wish each of them had been expanded upon a bit more. I liked what I got of each of them, but felt like I would have enjoyed even more of them. I wish the narrative voice had been a bit more concise. It felt a bit all over the place at times. I'd also say that the ending felt rather abrupt for me. It felt a bit clumsy almost, like the author was quick to get it to a conclusion and just pushed the narrative to do so. And I also felt like the writing didn't feel as close as you'd expect given the narrative. It was detached in some way or something. I can't quite put my words on it but that's the feeling that I was left with. This is part of the reason it didn't quite make it to the 5 star level for this reader. However, I definitely think that it's a good book, one definitely worth reading. I know that it's a debut so perhaps that will come with time for this particular writer. I'm eager to see what's to come for her and will be waiting for further books!
November 20, 2022
Overall: ☆☆☆☆ ☆(4.6)
Writing style: ☆☆☆☆☆
Entertainment ☆☆☆☆☆
Characters ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot: ☆☆☆☆
Ending:☆☆☆☆
First and foremost, I would love to thank Net-Galley, the author, and publishers for allowing me the opportunity to obtain an ARC copy of this novel for my honest opinion and review.
Immediately from reading the synopsis i knew there was such an opportunity for a real, raw, and powerful novel. And Tracey Rose Peyton fulfills on all those aspects!
On a struggling Texas plantation, six enslaved women slip from their sleeping quarters and gather in the woods under the cover of night. The Lucys—as they call the plantation owners, after Lucifer himself—have decided to turn around the farm’s bleak financial prospects by making the women bear children. They have hired a “stockman” to impregnate them. But the women are determined to protect themselves.
Tracey paints a picture of six women enduring their own trials as well as this shared tribulation.
Each character is beautifully developed, in which you feel you know them and empathize with their struggles.
Not to mention, the ending was shocking in some aspects and resolute in others.
Tracey painted a picture of the life of slavery and the faith that women such as Nan, Serah, Patience, Junie, Lulu, and Alice had to have to endure and persevere.
As an avid BOTM reader, I hope this will be a January pick. Otherwise, I will certainly be adding a physical copy to my collection of novels.
Writing style: ☆☆☆☆☆
Entertainment ☆☆☆☆☆
Characters ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot: ☆☆☆☆
Ending:☆☆☆☆
First and foremost, I would love to thank Net-Galley, the author, and publishers for allowing me the opportunity to obtain an ARC copy of this novel for my honest opinion and review.
Immediately from reading the synopsis i knew there was such an opportunity for a real, raw, and powerful novel. And Tracey Rose Peyton fulfills on all those aspects!
On a struggling Texas plantation, six enslaved women slip from their sleeping quarters and gather in the woods under the cover of night. The Lucys—as they call the plantation owners, after Lucifer himself—have decided to turn around the farm’s bleak financial prospects by making the women bear children. They have hired a “stockman” to impregnate them. But the women are determined to protect themselves.
Tracey paints a picture of six women enduring their own trials as well as this shared tribulation.
Each character is beautifully developed, in which you feel you know them and empathize with their struggles.
Not to mention, the ending was shocking in some aspects and resolute in others.
Tracey painted a picture of the life of slavery and the faith that women such as Nan, Serah, Patience, Junie, Lulu, and Alice had to have to endure and persevere.
As an avid BOTM reader, I hope this will be a January pick. Otherwise, I will certainly be adding a physical copy to my collection of novels.
November 23, 2022
First of all, I was really excited to read this book. The synopsis sounded right up my alley. Historical Fiction? Check. Female main characters who fight back against oppression? Check.
Unfortunately, this didn't deliver for me. The first 20% or so I read in an evening. When I went to pick it up again the next day, I could not get back into it. I had for force myself to read it over the next 2 weeks. It should only have taken me 2 days.
There's just no obvious main character. The book is written primarily in the third person. However, randomly there are a few paragraphs sprinkled in that switch to first person plural. So who's narrating?
Each chapter focuses on several of the characters lives, but never for long enough to ever get to know any of them. There's too many of them to keep track of and they are just too similar in personality.
The last chapter was clunky. The last few paragraphs were almost maddening. The story of how those two characters got to that point would have been much more interesting.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, this didn't deliver for me. The first 20% or so I read in an evening. When I went to pick it up again the next day, I could not get back into it. I had for force myself to read it over the next 2 weeks. It should only have taken me 2 days.
There's just no obvious main character. The book is written primarily in the third person. However, randomly there are a few paragraphs sprinkled in that switch to first person plural. So who's narrating?
Each chapter focuses on several of the characters lives, but never for long enough to ever get to know any of them. There's too many of them to keep track of and they are just too similar in personality.
The last chapter was clunky. The last few paragraphs were almost maddening. The story of how those two characters got to that point would have been much more interesting.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
February 10, 2023
A heartbreaking debut that follows six enslaved women on a plantation in the 1850’s—it explores the hardships as an enslaved woman, the injustices done to them, and their incredible strength with purpose to survive.
[The book starts out where the Harlow’s (referred to as the Lucys.. aka Lucifer) Texas plantation is failing, their answer.. to bring in a stockman to impregnate their enslaved. These women secretly rebel against the Lucys by chewing on cotton root to keep from conceiving.]
This was a slower paced, short read that I had to pay extra attention to with the way in which it was written. Never less, I was fairly quickly taken back to the place in time, into the shoes of these women, feeling emotionally drained by the end of the book. Tracey Rose Peyton is an incredible writer bringing female solidarity to the surface of an unimaginable hell. 4 stars — Pub. 1/31/23
[The book starts out where the Harlow’s (referred to as the Lucys.. aka Lucifer) Texas plantation is failing, their answer.. to bring in a stockman to impregnate their enslaved. These women secretly rebel against the Lucys by chewing on cotton root to keep from conceiving.]
This was a slower paced, short read that I had to pay extra attention to with the way in which it was written. Never less, I was fairly quickly taken back to the place in time, into the shoes of these women, feeling emotionally drained by the end of the book. Tracey Rose Peyton is an incredible writer bringing female solidarity to the surface of an unimaginable hell. 4 stars — Pub. 1/31/23
October 24, 2022
This book is a lot to digest. Peyton takes us on a journey of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. The story that was told was different from anything I’ve ever read. A story that often goes untold. Unlike most stories I’ve read it’s less about escaping and more about surviving. Under the thumb of their master(s) these women devise a plan just to make life more livable. The state of consciousness and unconsciousness was so thin in this. To make things more bearable often times the women would think back to their families they had to leave behind. To the point where they would constantly have bouts of dizziness and haziness. There were so many things I didn’t know previously like slave holders bringing in breeders to force children upon the plantation. Or how a wet nurse really worked. There was so many new things to learn in every chapter of this book.
The name of the game is money and these owners don’t have a lot of it which is quite different of story than what’s usually told. A plantation of 10 slaves is not common in popular stories usually it’s way more so in a way this story is way more intimate than one would think. Each slave has their point of view told and even the slave owners pov is told as well. This was unique story and I appreciate the authenticity and the author creativity.
Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco books for the e-ARC.
The name of the game is money and these owners don’t have a lot of it which is quite different of story than what’s usually told. A plantation of 10 slaves is not common in popular stories usually it’s way more so in a way this story is way more intimate than one would think. Each slave has their point of view told and even the slave owners pov is told as well. This was unique story and I appreciate the authenticity and the author creativity.
Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco books for the e-ARC.
August 28, 2023
Very talented author who weaves a sorrowful, historical tale told in many different voices that merge toward the end. Reminiscent of Wench and Remembered.
August 12, 2023
Set in 1865 Texas on a struggling plantation. The narrators are several women procured by the Lucys (what the women call their slaveowners - short for Lucifer) and quickly set to have children in order to secure the success of the farm.
Harlow - Mr. Lucy - is not best at farming, so you can imagine who gets blamed for his failures. The six women are simply trying to bide their time and trying to avoid getting pregnant.
There are moments where we get the backstory of each woman, but those moments are fleeting. I often found the history of the characters more interesting than what was happening in the present storyline. Also, there is often a first person narrator, but you never know who it is!
The book is short, but it took me four days to get through. I found the ending abrupt. I couldn't quite get from point A to point B, but there I was.
Harlow - Mr. Lucy - is not best at farming, so you can imagine who gets blamed for his failures. The six women are simply trying to bide their time and trying to avoid getting pregnant.
There are moments where we get the backstory of each woman, but those moments are fleeting. I often found the history of the characters more interesting than what was happening in the present storyline. Also, there is often a first person narrator, but you never know who it is!
The book is short, but it took me four days to get through. I found the ending abrupt. I couldn't quite get from point A to point B, but there I was.
May 11, 2023
Man 😭 this one got me! So well done, centered a place of enslavement that I’m not familiar with (Texas). watching the community these women built with each other and the way their stories were spun had me ready to cry. The scenarios/situations were pieced together so realistically, while always showing us the humanity and resilience of our ancestors. The end had me sad and wanting more for those women. Overall, 4.5⭐️’s.
February 20, 2023
Confusing alternating POV and characters that weren't developed enough to connect with.
February 27, 2023
An incredible debut historical fiction novel about a group of six enslaved women who band together to rebel against their owners' plans to make money by breeding them. I loved the strong female solidarity in this book, the multiple POVs and the ways that the women took control back over their bodies (to varying degrees of success). Recommended for fans of books like The conjure women and good on audio narrated by Karen Chilton.
January 9, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5. This debut historical fiction absolutely blew me away with its first person plural narration and beautiful writing.
Heartfelt thanks to @eccobooks for the gifted advance review copy. All thoughts are my own.
We are introduced to six women enslaved on a Texas plantation a decade or two prior to the Civil War. The plantation is struggling, run by dysfunctional, abusive owners who are in debt and unhappy. Horrifically, they have purchased only women (no men) with a plan to breed them for profit via a stockman, while still making them do all of the hard labor involved on a cotton farm.
Immediately I was struck by the narration – an unusual first person plural, the collective “we” with no single speaker. This was a bold choice by Peyton, but I think it works to great effect. After all, these women are bound together by their suffering and by their joint rebellion, even if later the narration and focus shifts mainly to Serah and her budding affair with Noah.
The theme of being bound, or of bonds being broken, runs throughout the novel, as the women are quite literally indentured, as enslaved parents and children, husbands and wives are forcibly separated from each other or made to be intimate with each other, as even Lizzy, the farm’s matriarch, desperately wishes she could return to the bonds of her family, and as Serah goes to the local conjure woman with a bracelet of hair to try to bind herself to Noah after he has fled across the Mexican border.
And we, the readers, should feel bound by this suffering, too. We have an obligation to record and remember this history accurately, and to never look away.
This gripping book is out now.
Heartfelt thanks to @eccobooks for the gifted advance review copy. All thoughts are my own.
We are introduced to six women enslaved on a Texas plantation a decade or two prior to the Civil War. The plantation is struggling, run by dysfunctional, abusive owners who are in debt and unhappy. Horrifically, they have purchased only women (no men) with a plan to breed them for profit via a stockman, while still making them do all of the hard labor involved on a cotton farm.
Immediately I was struck by the narration – an unusual first person plural, the collective “we” with no single speaker. This was a bold choice by Peyton, but I think it works to great effect. After all, these women are bound together by their suffering and by their joint rebellion, even if later the narration and focus shifts mainly to Serah and her budding affair with Noah.
The theme of being bound, or of bonds being broken, runs throughout the novel, as the women are quite literally indentured, as enslaved parents and children, husbands and wives are forcibly separated from each other or made to be intimate with each other, as even Lizzy, the farm’s matriarch, desperately wishes she could return to the bonds of her family, and as Serah goes to the local conjure woman with a bracelet of hair to try to bind herself to Noah after he has fled across the Mexican border.
And we, the readers, should feel bound by this suffering, too. We have an obligation to record and remember this history accurately, and to never look away.
This gripping book is out now.
January 20, 2023
The last 30 pages were the most climactic of the entire story. I never felt like I could characterize any of the 6 women, except maybe Nan with her herb remedies (a weird part of the book that wasted an exorbitant amount of space in a rather short novel). And who was the narrator? The inside cover advertised the story as having 6 characters, but who was this 7th narrator who seemingly worked and experienced all the same hardships alongside them?
I was excited about this book. B&N suggested it as their book of the month. I typically love novels set in the era of slavery. Unfortunately, this one was lost on me.
I was excited about this book. B&N suggested it as their book of the month. I typically love novels set in the era of slavery. Unfortunately, this one was lost on me.
January 25, 2023
Night Wherever We Go is a beautifully painful and gripping debut novel about a group of six enslaved women staged a rebellion against their owners in 1850's Texas. Very well-written and good historical research.
August 31, 2023
I found this book while browsing the "available now" audiobooks from the library (as though I don't have an entire library of my own waiting on me to read them), and as it is right up my alley, I picked it up.
And then I devoured it in basically two sittings.
I can't say that this was a perfect book, and there were some things that I questioned the authorial decisions on, but, as a whole, I think it was a really well done debut.
This book centers around a group of enslaved women on a Texas plantation, whose "owner" was advised that investing in women is more worthwhile because they can work AND breed, increasing his property and profits with each child. So, he brings in another enslaved man who is specifically "rented out" for the purpose of impregnating enslaved women.
The women understand exactly what is happening, and take measures through their own craftiness, religion, herbal/medicinal knowledge, etc, to prevent this. Obviously, the failure of the women to bear fruit causes more and more frustration in the enslaver, as he is in debt and was looking at this as a cash-cow solution. It does not go well.
For a good portion of the book, I was reminded of Miriam Toews' book Women Talking. A lot of the same kind of themes are explored between these two books - women in very rigidly defined and conscribed role within their 'community', their bodies used by men without their consent, the way that the women discuss and try to deal and come to terms with this situation.
But the things that I hated about Women Talking - namely the narrative framing device used, and the lack of closure for the women - were done much better in this book.
Better, but not flawlessly. This is (mostly) told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator that is among the enslaved women. I say "mostly" because there are times when the narrative slips into 3rd person omniscient style. This aspect actually distracted me several times until I got used to it. The story starts with the unnamed narrator, who would include herself in the group of enslaved women. "We gathered around the tree." "She came into our cabin." etc. But then we would get a completely different and separate perspective that this narrator COULD NOT know, and I would get fixated on that for a bit. But once I set that aside and stopped worrying about the perspective from which the story is told, I just settled in and was absorbed.
The narration device here may have been distracting, but it was not LIMITING, as it was in Women Talking. And that, for me, was key. I never felt like these women's stories and situations were being filtered through someone else's perspective - even when it was technically being told by the unnamed narrator's perspective. Eventually, the narrative just faded into the background for me, and I was in the story.
What I think was really well done in both books was the social dynamics among the women, and how they related to each other as a group and also individuals. This book in particular went to great lengths to show that, though these women are all living in the same hellish situation, dealing with the same brutality, they were very different women, with individual personalities and histories and beliefs and desires and sometimes bizarre self-sabotaging behaviors and inexplicable actions... and sometimes all too explicable ones.
The way that these women exerted their agency, even though it was futile and could never fully succeed, considering the institution they were bound within, and lack of any actual power over their lives, it was still really powerfully hopeful in a way that gave me massive anxiety hoping that they would win, that things would be OK for them, that they wouldn't suffer the horrible realities of what their lives were, even though I KNEW it was all but impossible.
The way that motherhood was shown and used in this story was really interesting and heartbreaking. I am having trouble trying to find the exact words that I want to say here without giving too much away (because I feel like this book is one that should be experienced directly)... but I still want to convey what I felt and thought about it.
The thing that keeps coming to mind is the lack of control that these enslaved women had over their lives, and the lengths that they would go to in order to try to exert some. And how the system was so insidiously and maliciously and cruelly stacked against them to prevent that very thing. I know that this seems like a hard left from talking about motherhood, but I promise it's relevant. I keep seeing one particular scene play out in my head, and it is so heartbreaking for me.
The ending of this book took me by surprise, as I think it took some of the characters by surprise too. And while it's not the ending I wanted for these women, it was the right one for this story, as cruel as that is. This entire book was a knife-edge of tension waiting to see what would happen, but knowing that these poor women literally could not win, and hoping they would anyway. It's brutal and heartbreaking. Yet I also admit to enjoying a little bit of schadenfreude for the unspoken consequences of what transpires afterward.
And the fact that this book managed to make me feel all of these feelings is impressive, especially for a debut author. I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for more from Peyton.
One last thing before I go, the audiobook read by Karen Chilton is wonderful. Highly recommend. :D
And then I devoured it in basically two sittings.
I can't say that this was a perfect book, and there were some things that I questioned the authorial decisions on, but, as a whole, I think it was a really well done debut.
This book centers around a group of enslaved women on a Texas plantation, whose "owner" was advised that investing in women is more worthwhile because they can work AND breed, increasing his property and profits with each child. So, he brings in another enslaved man who is specifically "rented out" for the purpose of impregnating enslaved women.
The women understand exactly what is happening, and take measures through their own craftiness, religion, herbal/medicinal knowledge, etc, to prevent this. Obviously, the failure of the women to bear fruit causes more and more frustration in the enslaver, as he is in debt and was looking at this as a cash-cow solution. It does not go well.
For a good portion of the book, I was reminded of Miriam Toews' book Women Talking. A lot of the same kind of themes are explored between these two books - women in very rigidly defined and conscribed role within their 'community', their bodies used by men without their consent, the way that the women discuss and try to deal and come to terms with this situation.
But the things that I hated about Women Talking - namely the narrative framing device used, and the lack of closure for the women - were done much better in this book.
Better, but not flawlessly. This is (mostly) told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator that is among the enslaved women. I say "mostly" because there are times when the narrative slips into 3rd person omniscient style. This aspect actually distracted me several times until I got used to it. The story starts with the unnamed narrator, who would include herself in the group of enslaved women. "We gathered around the tree." "She came into our cabin." etc. But then we would get a completely different and separate perspective that this narrator COULD NOT know, and I would get fixated on that for a bit. But once I set that aside and stopped worrying about the perspective from which the story is told, I just settled in and was absorbed.
The narration device here may have been distracting, but it was not LIMITING, as it was in Women Talking. And that, for me, was key. I never felt like these women's stories and situations were being filtered through someone else's perspective - even when it was technically being told by the unnamed narrator's perspective. Eventually, the narrative just faded into the background for me, and I was in the story.
What I think was really well done in both books was the social dynamics among the women, and how they related to each other as a group and also individuals. This book in particular went to great lengths to show that, though these women are all living in the same hellish situation, dealing with the same brutality, they were very different women, with individual personalities and histories and beliefs and desires and sometimes bizarre self-sabotaging behaviors and inexplicable actions... and sometimes all too explicable ones.
The way that these women exerted their agency, even though it was futile and could never fully succeed, considering the institution they were bound within, and lack of any actual power over their lives, it was still really powerfully hopeful in a way that gave me massive anxiety hoping that they would win, that things would be OK for them, that they wouldn't suffer the horrible realities of what their lives were, even though I KNEW it was all but impossible.
The way that motherhood was shown and used in this story was really interesting and heartbreaking. I am having trouble trying to find the exact words that I want to say here without giving too much away (because I feel like this book is one that should be experienced directly)... but I still want to convey what I felt and thought about it.
The thing that keeps coming to mind is the lack of control that these enslaved women had over their lives, and the lengths that they would go to in order to try to exert some. And how the system was so insidiously and maliciously and cruelly stacked against them to prevent that very thing. I know that this seems like a hard left from talking about motherhood, but I promise it's relevant. I keep seeing one particular scene play out in my head, and it is so heartbreaking for me.
The ending of this book took me by surprise, as I think it took some of the characters by surprise too. And while it's not the ending I wanted for these women, it was the right one for this story, as cruel as that is. This entire book was a knife-edge of tension waiting to see what would happen, but knowing that these poor women literally could not win, and hoping they would anyway. It's brutal and heartbreaking. Yet I also admit to enjoying a little bit of schadenfreude for the unspoken consequences of what transpires afterward.
And the fact that this book managed to make me feel all of these feelings is impressive, especially for a debut author. I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for more from Peyton.
One last thing before I go, the audiobook read by Karen Chilton is wonderful. Highly recommend. :D
December 19, 2023
A difficult but necessary look at slavery during an unspeakable time in history. The things that humans can do to each other send a person to dark places.
A couple from Georgia move to Texas after failing in their attempts at plantation ownership. They are told that female slaves are a better bet because they can do just as much work as the men but also can provide offspring that can be sold off for profit. The owner hires men who are to impregnate the slave women. Each of the women has back stories including family, husbands and children they were separated from. All very heartwrenching.
A couple from Georgia move to Texas after failing in their attempts at plantation ownership. They are told that female slaves are a better bet because they can do just as much work as the men but also can provide offspring that can be sold off for profit. The owner hires men who are to impregnate the slave women. Each of the women has back stories including family, husbands and children they were separated from. All very heartwrenching.
March 2, 2023
Well written and and clearly heavily researched, Night Wherever We Go is a devastating, provocative and brutally captivating read. I can't wait to read whatever Tracey Rose Peyton writes next.
TW: racism, rape, lynching, abuse, slavery, lynching
TW: racism, rape, lynching, abuse, slavery, lynching
January 17, 2023
3.5 stars. *I’ve got to say first off, that I think the synopsis (see below) for this novel does it a bit of a disservice. This book is more about these six women themselves and their daily lives/trials more than it is the “stockman.” Don’t get me wrong, he plays a part of the overarching story but the depth and joy and pain and real story are found in Junie, Serah, Patience, Nan, Lulu and Alice.
*I’m a little sad to say this book wasn’t a complete win for me😕 There were so many moments that I was IN the story and loving the depth of characters and hurting for their suffering. After thinking about it, I think the writing style is ultimately what ended up not completely working for me and took me out of the story. This authors writing is full of imagery and lyrical writing and I think that will work for so so many readers. If this book sounds like something you may enjoy, PICK IT UP. It’s definitely a phenomenal book.
*That ending😭😭😭
*Thank you so much to @eccobooks for this ARC!!
*I’m a little sad to say this book wasn’t a complete win for me😕 There were so many moments that I was IN the story and loving the depth of characters and hurting for their suffering. After thinking about it, I think the writing style is ultimately what ended up not completely working for me and took me out of the story. This authors writing is full of imagery and lyrical writing and I think that will work for so so many readers. If this book sounds like something you may enjoy, PICK IT UP. It’s definitely a phenomenal book.
*That ending😭😭😭
*Thank you so much to @eccobooks for this ARC!!
August 21, 2023
My final rating is 4,5 rating!
January 27, 2023
She was tempted to run as far as she could, but the problem was, that wasn't very far. She had a better idea than the other women what lay at the end of most attempts -- more land, little food, and an infinite number of white men with guns. And what she understood more than most about all those white men with guns in this strange and new country was how arbitrary and varied their cruelty could be.
I'm really struggling to put into words how I felt about Night Wherever We Go. This is such a powerful, illuminating story, a book about ugly things told in the most beautiful and affecting way.
The novel centers on the lives of six slave women on a struggling Texas plantation in the years leading up to the Civil War. Their owners, the Harlows, are poor and desperate, their failing farm causing a mountain of debt to accrue. In a last ditch effort to grow his workforce and improve his prospects, Harlow decides to breed the women, hiring a "stockman" to impregnate them like animals. The women have a plan to keep that from happening -- but should their rebellion be discovered, they will face severe consequences.
The book starts out in the voice of the collective "we" of the women, which continues throughout, but it mostly moves to the third person as we learn about the inner lives and histories of each of them. Through her thoughtful, vivid characterizations, Tracey Rose Peyton gives voice to an under-represented perspective, exploring America's most egregious injustices through the specific experiences of her characters. Peyton doesn't flinch away from the brutality these women experience, and it's dark and devastating. Her prose is gripping and straightforward and on the surface seems almost unemotional, unadorned -- but rather than making me feel emotionally disconnected, the no-nonsense telling of this story just made me feel more for these women. The horrific things they experienced, conveyed so plainly as just part of their daily routine, served to highlight just how barbaric this way of life actually was -- and it was incredibly effective.
But for all the ugliness of this story, there is so much beauty to be found in this book: in the way the women maintain their dignity and body autonomy; in their fellowship and their collective, subversive defiance; in the way they choose love in even the most hopeless circumstances. There is intimacy and longing and tenderness, faith and spirituality and grief and healing, all to be found amidst the tyranny and injustices of their everyday lives. Night Wherever We Go is an astounding, important work of literary historical fiction that I will be thinking about for a long time. Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco Press for the digital ARC.
February 27, 2024
Like the title, Night Wherever We Go, is told from the first person plural perspective of six enslaved women. The setting is a small failing farm in Texas during the 1850s.
The women come from different areas and with varying life stories, but learn to work together to lift each other up. When the women learn of the farmers intention to use them for breeding purposes, they set a plan in motion which will prevent that.
Peyton paints a picture of the bleak life of the time, while at the same time highlighting the importance of community building among the enslaved.
I thought this was a worthy effort and look forward to what Peyton writes next.
The women come from different areas and with varying life stories, but learn to work together to lift each other up. When the women learn of the farmers intention to use them for breeding purposes, they set a plan in motion which will prevent that.
Peyton paints a picture of the bleak life of the time, while at the same time highlighting the importance of community building among the enslaved.
I thought this was a worthy effort and look forward to what Peyton writes next.
January 22, 2023
Are stories of American Slavery overdone? When are hundreds of books about the civil war being published, when folks talk about market saturation on books about slavery, they just might be talking about something else.
Still it’s important to note that Tracey Rose Peyton is telling a slice of the tale that’s not been given enough attention. The story of enslaved women, their quiet rebellions, the seemingly small risks (with large consequences) they took every day of their lives to hold on to their bodily autonomy, to their spiritual beliefs, to hold on to themselves.
Her historical research is obvious and she uses it for a complicated description of the community the women created and the way they worshipped. They weren’t all praying to the same god in the same way wishing to be welcomed through the pearly gates. They weren’t field hands singing spirituals and living in harmony. Nor were they harpies backstabbing at every opportunity. But their sisterhood was real and nuanced.
While the focus was on the women held in bondage, some of the most achingly beautiful language can be found in the voice of Noah, the husband of Serah as he travels south. That small chapter was packed full of so much.
Many reviewers have lambasted the ending. The ending is perfect. It ends as it begins with the women together and creating a complicated melody out of pain, despair and hope. Each one picked a part, sang their soul’s song, weaving it around another’s.
Still it’s important to note that Tracey Rose Peyton is telling a slice of the tale that’s not been given enough attention. The story of enslaved women, their quiet rebellions, the seemingly small risks (with large consequences) they took every day of their lives to hold on to their bodily autonomy, to their spiritual beliefs, to hold on to themselves.
Her historical research is obvious and she uses it for a complicated description of the community the women created and the way they worshipped. They weren’t all praying to the same god in the same way wishing to be welcomed through the pearly gates. They weren’t field hands singing spirituals and living in harmony. Nor were they harpies backstabbing at every opportunity. But their sisterhood was real and nuanced.
While the focus was on the women held in bondage, some of the most achingly beautiful language can be found in the voice of Noah, the husband of Serah as he travels south. That small chapter was packed full of so much.
Many reviewers have lambasted the ending. The ending is perfect. It ends as it begins with the women together and creating a complicated melody out of pain, despair and hope. Each one picked a part, sang their soul’s song, weaving it around another’s.
August 19, 2023
A group of enslaved women on a Texas plantation are determined to protect themselves.
Their owners, the Lucys want to save their struggling plantation by making the women bear children and have hired a stockman to impregnate them.
Should their plan be discovered, the consequences will be severe…
This book does illuminate the individual lives of these women and insight on the stockman who is sick of his job traveling and breeding women and the threat looming over his family. And it portrays their collective defiance.
But sadly it didn’t give me anything. No connection to any of the characters, no understanding of the injustice beyond what I knew before. I’ve read quite a few books about that time and even from some light reads I’ve learned more.
This is dark and heavy which was to be expected but the storytelling is slow and couldn’t live up to what the premise promised me.
The narration switching had me confused as there was no insight on who it was.
Wish I had given up when I was 50 pages in but I finished because I did care about the fate of these women. But the narration doesn’t allow to stay with any of them for longer so I ended up with not really knowing who anyone is.
Their owners, the Lucys want to save their struggling plantation by making the women bear children and have hired a stockman to impregnate them.
Should their plan be discovered, the consequences will be severe…
This book does illuminate the individual lives of these women and insight on the stockman who is sick of his job traveling and breeding women and the threat looming over his family. And it portrays their collective defiance.
But sadly it didn’t give me anything. No connection to any of the characters, no understanding of the injustice beyond what I knew before. I’ve read quite a few books about that time and even from some light reads I’ve learned more.
This is dark and heavy which was to be expected but the storytelling is slow and couldn’t live up to what the premise promised me.
The narration switching had me confused as there was no insight on who it was.
Wish I had given up when I was 50 pages in but I finished because I did care about the fate of these women. But the narration doesn’t allow to stay with any of them for longer so I ended up with not really knowing who anyone is.
June 10, 2023
I had high hopes. I this is a hard book to read as it deals with the horrific atrocities of slavery in the 1850’s. I cannot believe they bring in a man to try and impregnate the women in the hopes of gaining more slaves. I thought I had read it all. Horrible. At times this book was so good, so raw and sad. But other times I wasn’t sure what was going on with whom. It seemed to jump around quite a bit and I couldn’t be certain til several paragraphs or pages who was talking. And the ending…. Yeah just didn’t understand the abruptness.
March 26, 2024
Texas, 1852. Junie, Patience, Lulu, Alice, Serah en Nan wonen en werken op een noodlijdende katoenplantage, waar hun eigenaren – die zij de Lucy’s noemen, duivelsgebroed – wanhopige plannen hebben om de plantage winstgevend te maken. Heftige en vergaande plannen met grote impact op de levens van deze vrouwen die tot elkaar veroordeeld zijn, waardoor binnen hun groep een bijzondere dynamiek ontstaat. Hun leeftijden, karakters, achtergronden en levenservaring verschillen en hoewel momenten van haat en jaloezie zeker voorkomen, heerst er veelal saamhorigheid, komen de vrouwen voor elkaar op, beschermen ze elkaar en vormen ze één front.
Om hun levens enigszins draaglijk te houden glippen ze ’s nachts uit hun hutten en hebben ze bijeenkomsten in het bos, met elkaar of met andere tot slaaf gemaakten. Ze hebben geheime feestjes, ze zingen liederen, roepen de goden aan met verzoeken en offerandes en ze verzinnen manieren om toch wat controle te houden over hun lichaam, hun geest en hun lot. Want hoewel dit geen slavernijverhaal is over continue mishandelingen, is het wel een indringend verhaal over machtsverhoudingen die overal in doorwerken, over het behandelen van deze mensen als vee, over getreiter, onderdrukking, ondermijning en opstand.
Het is een veelomvattend en gedetailleerd verhaal dat je volledige aandacht verdient en behoudt, een verhaal dat werkt met tijdsprongen en dat regelmatig van perspectief wisselt, waardoor je een goed beeld krijgt van het leven op de plantage omdat je niet alleen het lot van de zes vrouwen, belangrijke personen in hun levens en enkele nieuwkomers volgt, maar ook de positie van hun wat labiele mevrouw wordt belicht. In heldere taal zet de auteur de algehele sfeer en de verschillende rollen sterk neer, waardoor je geraakt wordt door de omstandigheden waarin deze vrouwen moeten leven, iedereen een eigen stem krijgt terwijl in het wij-perspectief hun eenheid wordt benadrukt en je met hen meeleeft.
Dit is een duister verhaal over verscheurde families, over breekbaarheid, vechten en berusting, over onmacht, woede, verdriet en verlies, over frustraties, worstelingen en listen, over hoop en gruwelen, een belangrijk verhaal dat verteld moet worden, een verhaal dat blijft nazinderen en hoewel het geheel vrij abrupt wordt afgerond en ik over de nasleep van enkele scènes graag nog meer had willen lezen, word je meegesleept door de gebeurtenissen en is dit indrukwekkende debuut absoluut een aanrader!
Om hun levens enigszins draaglijk te houden glippen ze ’s nachts uit hun hutten en hebben ze bijeenkomsten in het bos, met elkaar of met andere tot slaaf gemaakten. Ze hebben geheime feestjes, ze zingen liederen, roepen de goden aan met verzoeken en offerandes en ze verzinnen manieren om toch wat controle te houden over hun lichaam, hun geest en hun lot. Want hoewel dit geen slavernijverhaal is over continue mishandelingen, is het wel een indringend verhaal over machtsverhoudingen die overal in doorwerken, over het behandelen van deze mensen als vee, over getreiter, onderdrukking, ondermijning en opstand.
Het is een veelomvattend en gedetailleerd verhaal dat je volledige aandacht verdient en behoudt, een verhaal dat werkt met tijdsprongen en dat regelmatig van perspectief wisselt, waardoor je een goed beeld krijgt van het leven op de plantage omdat je niet alleen het lot van de zes vrouwen, belangrijke personen in hun levens en enkele nieuwkomers volgt, maar ook de positie van hun wat labiele mevrouw wordt belicht. In heldere taal zet de auteur de algehele sfeer en de verschillende rollen sterk neer, waardoor je geraakt wordt door de omstandigheden waarin deze vrouwen moeten leven, iedereen een eigen stem krijgt terwijl in het wij-perspectief hun eenheid wordt benadrukt en je met hen meeleeft.
Dit is een duister verhaal over verscheurde families, over breekbaarheid, vechten en berusting, over onmacht, woede, verdriet en verlies, over frustraties, worstelingen en listen, over hoop en gruwelen, een belangrijk verhaal dat verteld moet worden, een verhaal dat blijft nazinderen en hoewel het geheel vrij abrupt wordt afgerond en ik over de nasleep van enkele scènes graag nog meer had willen lezen, word je meegesleept door de gebeurtenissen en is dit indrukwekkende debuut absoluut een aanrader!
November 7, 2023
I really enjoyed reading this book!!! It’s not like your typical historical fiction that involves slavery because these slave owners were on the verge of being poor. The cruelty and unjust treatment was still there I just liked the twist of it being about survival on all parts.
The Harlow’s thirst for financial gain resulted in the idea of forcefully breeding their slaves Junie, Patience, Lulu, Alice, and Serah with random stockmen. I kept thinking if y’all that damn poor let them people go. Can barely afford to keep your land let alone a slave. Gotta force them to breed with men in hopes of creating more workers cause y’all broke. But I love how the women didn’t just allow it to happen and conjured a plan of their own. With the help of Nan a cotton root was concocted that would hopefully prevent any of them from bearing a child. It even helped Mrs. Harlow at one point.
The most memorable characters were Serah and Monroe. Their forced marriage was toxic and abusive. Serah was in love with another man by the name of Noah so I can understand her distant behavior from Monroe. Once Monroe found out she was creeping he became angered and abusive. This man hit Serah over the head with a wooden plank that’s how serious things got.
The dialogue between the characters was amazing and immersive literally read the book in like 3 days. The structure was very different flipping back and forth between a first and third person narrative. Only two of the six main characters were richly developed while the others just helped the plot move along.
Overall, this is a book I’d definitely recommend. The author provides a different experience with her vivid portrayal of the challenges these women faced while trying to survive. Again it’s not like our normal historical narratives because we’re given a different perspective on bondage, solidarity, defiance, and survival.
The Harlow’s thirst for financial gain resulted in the idea of forcefully breeding their slaves Junie, Patience, Lulu, Alice, and Serah with random stockmen. I kept thinking if y’all that damn poor let them people go. Can barely afford to keep your land let alone a slave. Gotta force them to breed with men in hopes of creating more workers cause y’all broke. But I love how the women didn’t just allow it to happen and conjured a plan of their own. With the help of Nan a cotton root was concocted that would hopefully prevent any of them from bearing a child. It even helped Mrs. Harlow at one point.
The most memorable characters were Serah and Monroe. Their forced marriage was toxic and abusive. Serah was in love with another man by the name of Noah so I can understand her distant behavior from Monroe. Once Monroe found out she was creeping he became angered and abusive. This man hit Serah over the head with a wooden plank that’s how serious things got.
The dialogue between the characters was amazing and immersive literally read the book in like 3 days. The structure was very different flipping back and forth between a first and third person narrative. Only two of the six main characters were richly developed while the others just helped the plot move along.
Overall, this is a book I’d definitely recommend. The author provides a different experience with her vivid portrayal of the challenges these women faced while trying to survive. Again it’s not like our normal historical narratives because we’re given a different perspective on bondage, solidarity, defiance, and survival.
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