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The Inheritance: A Novel
Not yet published
Expected 26 Jan 27Percival Everett meets Sinners in this gripping, haunting novel of history, rebellion, and the unpredictable nature of truth
When antiquarian Malcolm Washington is sent to a decaying plantation home on Johns Island, South Carolina, his mission is authenticate and acquire a shackle rumored to have been used on Denmark Vesey, the legendary leader of a thwarted slave rebellion. But the task proves far more complicated than Malcolm could have imagined. The shackle’s owner, the enigmatic Mrs. Manigault—the last white woman on the island—is having second thoughts about selling her inheritance.
What begins as a professional assessment quickly spirals into a tense battle of wits, as Mrs. Manigault insists on telling the “story” behind the shackle, one she was told as a child, which grows more fantastical at every turn. Each part of the tale is both a weapon and a test, crafted to manipulate, conceal, and ultimately reveal the buried truths of the past. Trapped between Mrs. Manigault’s manipulative storytelling and his own complicated motivations, Malcolm must come face-to-face with his own past.
Sweeping, suspenseful, and acidly funny, The Inheritance blends contemporary Southern Gothic and literary mystery to delve into the heart of America’s unresolved past, where the search for the truth uncovers secrets both liberating and terrifying.
When antiquarian Malcolm Washington is sent to a decaying plantation home on Johns Island, South Carolina, his mission is authenticate and acquire a shackle rumored to have been used on Denmark Vesey, the legendary leader of a thwarted slave rebellion. But the task proves far more complicated than Malcolm could have imagined. The shackle’s owner, the enigmatic Mrs. Manigault—the last white woman on the island—is having second thoughts about selling her inheritance.
What begins as a professional assessment quickly spirals into a tense battle of wits, as Mrs. Manigault insists on telling the “story” behind the shackle, one she was told as a child, which grows more fantastical at every turn. Each part of the tale is both a weapon and a test, crafted to manipulate, conceal, and ultimately reveal the buried truths of the past. Trapped between Mrs. Manigault’s manipulative storytelling and his own complicated motivations, Malcolm must come face-to-face with his own past.
Sweeping, suspenseful, and acidly funny, The Inheritance blends contemporary Southern Gothic and literary mystery to delve into the heart of America’s unresolved past, where the search for the truth uncovers secrets both liberating and terrifying.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication January 26, 2027
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Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC of The Inheritance in exchange for an honest review. I don't read too many books like The Inheritance but from the description it looked really interesting and different and it was. Bennett Capers writing kept me in suspense all the way to the end. Malcolm Washington is a young African American man working for an auction house and wants to acquire a shackle worn by a slave who allegedly started an insurrection. He travels to St. John's Island off the coast of South Carolina and encounters the owner of the shackle as well as other Civil War items related to it. Mrs. Manigault spins a tale for Malcolm that he has a hard time believing. Mrs. Manigault, an elderly white woman, claims the shackle and related items are part of her inheritance and weaves a tale that makes Malcolm doubt that her items have any worth at all. The story carries a sense of dread throughout. The island is mostly black residents with Mrs. M. being the last white resident of the island on her decaying estate. The book can be considered a suspense book but it has a deep history of the abuses that took place during the Civil War and the years following it. The ending has a twist that I didn't see coming. The anticipated release date is May 2027.
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