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A Point in Time #7
Mother Swamp
A fever dream of the past that ripples outward to the modern world, this powerful short story by two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward draws inspiration from the hidden communities built by people escaping slavery.
Afice is the last of nine generations of women who have survived enslavement, sickness, and hunger. Alone at age seventeen, she sets out through the Louisiana swamps to follow the trail of her ancestors and hear their songs anew. On this journey, Afice must decide how to honor her ancestors while embracing her own future.
Jesmyn Ward’s Mother Swamp is part of A Point in Time, a transporting collection of stories about the pivotal moments, past and present, that change lives. Read or listen to each immersive story in a single sitting.
Afice is the last of nine generations of women who have survived enslavement, sickness, and hunger. Alone at age seventeen, she sets out through the Louisiana swamps to follow the trail of her ancestors and hear their songs anew. On this journey, Afice must decide how to honor her ancestors while embracing her own future.
Jesmyn Ward’s Mother Swamp is part of A Point in Time, a transporting collection of stories about the pivotal moments, past and present, that change lives. Read or listen to each immersive story in a single sitting.
24 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 28, 2022
505 people are currently reading
1273 people want to read
About the author
Jesmyn Ward
28 books9,505 followersJesmyn Ward is the author of Where the Line Bleeds, Salvage the Bones, and Men We Reaped. She is a former Stegner Fellow (Stanford University) and Grisham Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi. She is an associate professor of Creative Writing at Tulane University.
Her work has appeared in BOMB, A Public Space and The Oxford American.
Her work has appeared in BOMB, A Public Space and The Oxford American.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
August 8, 2022
Jesmyn Ward wrote this, so of course, it’s beautiful. In her note at the end of this short story, she describes how the idea for it emanated from her research on her novel in progress. (I can’t wait!) The books she read told about “people who escaped slavery in America, and details how they managed to survive.” One of the books tells of American maroons who “escape and dug caves into riverbanks, for shelter, living in such dwellings for long periods of time .”
In this beautiful short story, she imagines “what if there were a maroon settlement in the wilderness that sprang from one escaped woman?” Ward’s gorgeous writing is like reading and listening to a poem about women, their daughters and their daughters …Just beautiful . My first experience with listening and reading simultaneously. The narration was perfect.
( One of Amazon Original Stories , A Point in Time Collection. All seven stories on kindle + the Audible are included with a Prime membership.)
In this beautiful short story, she imagines “what if there were a maroon settlement in the wilderness that sprang from one escaped woman?” Ward’s gorgeous writing is like reading and listening to a poem about women, their daughters and their daughters …Just beautiful . My first experience with listening and reading simultaneously. The narration was perfect.
( One of Amazon Original Stories , A Point in Time Collection. All seven stories on kindle + the Audible are included with a Prime membership.)
May 30, 2023
In a Nutshell: A literary-style short fiction focussing on the extent to which people can go to ensure survival. Good story, okay ending.
Story Synopsis:
Most of this historical fiction short story is compelling. It depicts the battles fought by a strong woman while escaping from slavery and her decision to continue amid the swamps with her line of daughters. Each generation highlights women power in various ways.
The writing is poetic, evoking myriad feelings ranging from helplessness to hope, from despondency to determination. The way the mothers and daughters followed the dictates of First Mother and the minor rebellions that crept up along the way in the matrilineal society – everything is written in a stark yet vivid manner.
It is tough to believe that this story is just about 24 pages long. Despite the elaborate imagery, the story is quick in pace and powerful in impact. What elevated the experience even more was the detailed author’s note, which highlights the facts behind this fictional work.
I wasn’t in agreement with the characters’ choices many a time, but mine is not to decide if a character is right or wrong. Mine is to see if the author portrayed the situation convincingly, and she did.
The ending, however, dissatisfied me. While somewhat hopeful and bittersweet, it left me wanting a lot more in terms of information as well as closure. Also, nine generations to be covered within 24 pages (including the author’s note) means that the whole flow feels very hurried and most of the characters are touched upon only at a surface level..
This short story isn’t for those who seek a traditional plot with a clear start-middle-end progression. The structure herein is more of a go-with-the-flow, moving back and forth across the various mothers and daughters, with a dash of magical realism to boot.
Recommended, but to a limited audience.
3.5 stars.
This is the seventh standalone story from the ‘A Point in Time’ collection, and is available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Story Synopsis:
Afice is the only one left from nine generations of women who escaped from slavery, and survived in the swamp. Each woman battled animals, sickness and hunger, and ensured the continuity of her line through a special arrangement with another group of male survivors. But now, Afice is all alone. And at seventeen, she has reached the age where she must set out on the path of survival, honouring her forebears and ensuring survival.
The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Afice.
Most of this historical fiction short story is compelling. It depicts the battles fought by a strong woman while escaping from slavery and her decision to continue amid the swamps with her line of daughters. Each generation highlights women power in various ways.
The writing is poetic, evoking myriad feelings ranging from helplessness to hope, from despondency to determination. The way the mothers and daughters followed the dictates of First Mother and the minor rebellions that crept up along the way in the matrilineal society – everything is written in a stark yet vivid manner.
It is tough to believe that this story is just about 24 pages long. Despite the elaborate imagery, the story is quick in pace and powerful in impact. What elevated the experience even more was the detailed author’s note, which highlights the facts behind this fictional work.
I wasn’t in agreement with the characters’ choices many a time, but mine is not to decide if a character is right or wrong. Mine is to see if the author portrayed the situation convincingly, and she did.
The ending, however, dissatisfied me. While somewhat hopeful and bittersweet, it left me wanting a lot more in terms of information as well as closure. Also, nine generations to be covered within 24 pages (including the author’s note) means that the whole flow feels very hurried and most of the characters are touched upon only at a surface level..
This short story isn’t for those who seek a traditional plot with a clear start-middle-end progression. The structure herein is more of a go-with-the-flow, moving back and forth across the various mothers and daughters, with a dash of magical realism to boot.
Recommended, but to a limited audience.
3.5 stars.
This is the seventh standalone story from the ‘A Point in Time’ collection, and is available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
June 12, 2023
24 pages of strong and beautiful writing. 💪🏼🌸
I have never heard of this author before but I adored her writing style. This is the fourth short story I’ve read in this series and so far it is my favorite.
There are strong elements of female empowerment and perseverance.
If you want a fast read with beautiful imagery this is a good one to read.
4⭐️
I have never heard of this author before but I adored her writing style. This is the fourth short story I’ve read in this series and so far it is my favorite.
There are strong elements of female empowerment and perseverance.
If you want a fast read with beautiful imagery this is a good one to read.
4⭐️
November 10, 2022
Survival is a story that never ends.
Jesmyn Ward has created an intense draw in Mother Swamp. Ward wishes to roll out a solid depiction of the many slaves who escaped from brutal life on Louisiana plantations. They took to the swamps in the outlying regions. Deep, dark, smoldering hot inlets much preferred to the daily beatings and oppressive work conditions that they were subjected to.
Ward begins at the beginning. She takes us through nine generations of females/mothers who existed here and raised their children to be survivors. It flowed through their veins.....strength and stamina passed from one to another.
What Jesmyn Ward conveys in a mere twenty-four pages is astounding. You'll be gripped from the first page. And don't forget to read the Author's Note. She brings it all back full circle.
Jesmyn Ward has created an intense draw in Mother Swamp. Ward wishes to roll out a solid depiction of the many slaves who escaped from brutal life on Louisiana plantations. They took to the swamps in the outlying regions. Deep, dark, smoldering hot inlets much preferred to the daily beatings and oppressive work conditions that they were subjected to.
Ward begins at the beginning. She takes us through nine generations of females/mothers who existed here and raised their children to be survivors. It flowed through their veins.....strength and stamina passed from one to another.
What Jesmyn Ward conveys in a mere twenty-four pages is astounding. You'll be gripped from the first page. And don't forget to read the Author's Note. She brings it all back full circle.
March 22, 2023
“I look upward, through spring mist. I follow the dim crush of stars. I am the last bearer of our songs.”
~ Afice
Nine generations of mothers and their daughters, First Mother having escaped from a sugarcane plantation in the bayous, hiding in swamps in hand-dug burrows with walls of red river clay and floors of hard packed dirt. Stories and songs and traditions passed from one generation of women to the next . . . and the next and the next until there was only one. Afice must choose her own path.
This story, #7 in Amazon’s “Point In Time” short story series, is filled with spiritual, magical prose as only Jesmyn Ward can write it. Her ending ‘Author’s Note’ helped justify all the stars - it is almost as wonderful as the story. I am so looking forward to Ms. Ward’s new novel due to be released in October. It’s been 6 years since Sing, Unburied, Sing.
“I watch the sky, night after night. Sometimes, I think I see my grandmother, and all the mothers before her, traveling the shatter of stars across the darkness, swimming along the great river of night.”
Beautiful.
~ Afice
Nine generations of mothers and their daughters, First Mother having escaped from a sugarcane plantation in the bayous, hiding in swamps in hand-dug burrows with walls of red river clay and floors of hard packed dirt. Stories and songs and traditions passed from one generation of women to the next . . . and the next and the next until there was only one. Afice must choose her own path.
This story, #7 in Amazon’s “Point In Time” short story series, is filled with spiritual, magical prose as only Jesmyn Ward can write it. Her ending ‘Author’s Note’ helped justify all the stars - it is almost as wonderful as the story. I am so looking forward to Ms. Ward’s new novel due to be released in October. It’s been 6 years since Sing, Unburied, Sing.
“I watch the sky, night after night. Sometimes, I think I see my grandmother, and all the mothers before her, traveling the shatter of stars across the darkness, swimming along the great river of night.”
Beautiful.
August 11, 2022
3.5 stars. I'm very lucky, it seems that all my favorite authors are publishing new books at the same time. As with Anthony Marra I adore everything Jesmyn Ward writes, my favorite being Sing, Unburied, Sing. In this short story written for audible original the author draws her inspiration from the hidden communities built by people escaping slavery. The writing was beautiful and the narration dreamlike which was perfect for the story. So why the 3.5 stars? I wanted more, this felt like it only scratched the surface of what could be a complete novel.
December 31, 2022
3.5 stars
There was so much to still unpack in this short novella had it been longer it definitely would have had a higher rating from me.
The audio narration by Kimberly Woods was excellent and added to the otherworldly feel.
The story is uniquely beautiful and although I struggled with a previous book of hers I think its time to give this author another try.
The author’s note at the end puts the idea of the story into perspective and gives it a real feeling of authenticity.
Highly recommended especially if you loved the way The Buddha in the Attic was narrated
There was so much to still unpack in this short novella had it been longer it definitely would have had a higher rating from me.
The audio narration by Kimberly Woods was excellent and added to the otherworldly feel.
The story is uniquely beautiful and although I struggled with a previous book of hers I think its time to give this author another try.
The author’s note at the end puts the idea of the story into perspective and gives it a real feeling of authenticity.
Highly recommended especially if you loved the way The Buddha in the Attic was narrated
August 26, 2022
(Mother Swamp by Jesmyn Ward
What if there were more maroon settlements in the wilderness?
What if there was a maroon settlement in the wilderness that sprang from one escaped woman?
What if there were maroon women, escaped from slavery, who were similar to Saint Malo, peopled by Filipino American men that existed along the shore in a hidden fishing village of Lake Borgne in Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana as early as the mid-1700s.
What of the American maroons who escaped and dug caves in the riverbanks for shelter, living in such dwellings for long periods of time?
How would the aforementioned woman build a family, a community, , and guarantee their continued existence?
How would they have survived beyond being blood relatives?
How would they protect their settlement?
How would they choose their freedom from gender roles, the patriarchy, slavery, and external racism?
What would this kind of freedom look like?
What were its costs, gifts, and could it evolve?
These are the questions Ward asks in her author’s notes introducing this piece of her draft of the current novel she’s working on, released as A Point In Time Kindle Book, which follows an enslaved woman from South Carolina to the slave pens and sugar plantations of Louisiana.
But this is where most readers mistake Ward for a Black or African American literary artist writing about slavery, as if it was slave pornography for white people, instead of a major, American literary artist, maybe our the best alive, writing for everyone’s sake.
First, this example of Ward’s literary achievement isn’t asking questions about black people but women and people generally. Specifically women and their daughters, yes, but also their relationships with all kinds of other people. Not only slaves, or black people.
Second, Ward’s asking about freedom, which is common to everybody, and what it would look like if people had different choices and understood history.
Third, It’s mistaken to compare novelists and wrong to compare the personal lives of literary artists to their work, unless they do it themselves like in Ward’s case, one example is her memoir, “Men We Reap” and in two other examples include Ward’s articles in the Atlantic, KING Issue, April 2018, “RACISM IS ‘BUILT INTO THE VERY BONES’ OF MISSISSIPPI, and Vanity Fair, September 20, 2020, “On Witness and Respair: A Personal Tragedy Followed by Pandemic” and another example is John Updike’s memoir: “Self-Consciousness”.
For example. In American politics freedom in the Unites States of America has been confused with capitalism meaning money, instead of its original meaning, liberty, meaning equality.
Third. Ward’s writing about freedom with respect to its costs, gifts, and whether or not it can evolve and how. Freedom considered in these ways applies to all people, especially Americans. That’s why Ward is a great writer. Not simply a black or African American writer. To consider her one defeats the purpose of her work, its resplendent luxury, which also includes loss, grieving, and keeping moving forward. Qualities we all struggle with no matter our race, religion, political persuasion, and class.
The following include some examples fro what I read in this piece of Mother Swamp:
The concept of freedom in, “Mother Swamp” doesn’t confuse capitalism as money, instead it harkens back to the word’s original definition, liberty, meaning equality. This idea permeates this novel fragment without its being mentioned except for its juxtaposing living in the swamp from on the plantation. Not only does it possess an historical sweep, which is otherwise scarcely known, by its most common motivation: miscegenation. Essentially, Ward’s aspires to tell a story about what our historical consciousness means. Not simply her characters’ perspectives, specifically in, “Swamp Mother” by Afice but humanity’s. Only three other authors, which I’m aware of have attempted this feat: William Faulkner in, “Absalom, Absalom” and John Updike in his five “Rabbit” novels, which I consider one, and James Joyce, in “Ulysses”. Ward alludes to this goal when she describes, “Mother Swamp” in her author’s note as, “liminal.” In an effort to also achieve this goal, “Mother Swamp” is alto multigenerational.
Ward describes relationships, as being made up of individuals, in an empathic way when she tells how First Mother brought First Daughter at seventeen-years old, on an adventure to discover a displaced island of Filipino-American men. They do. In this way First Mother and First Daughter make an alliance with the island men, and First Daughter discovers a mate. Her discovery is lifechanging but described with subtlety clearly identifying each person of the pairing as separate but equal. An almost wordless interaction, which starts with a common meeting and ends with the young man saying, “Marykit,” Tagalog for beautiful. It’s also the title of the debut song by Filipino hip hop artists Juan Caoile and Kyle Caplis, which was released on May 21, 2020, about being attracted to a special woman a man can’t live without. The fact that it’s a Hip-Hop song is also relevant insofar as Civil Rights are concerned underscoring the fact that this new art form of American music directly and partly developed as an answer to Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination and the vacuum his loss left in the advancement of race relations, which hip hop has partway filled. These character alliances speak to the empathic quality of “Mother Swamp” in terms of their specificities of each group’s identity, and each person’s differences, as possibilities, without mentioning the act that conjugates their togetherness and implies love as an ongoing action.
This happens a second time in a later generation when Afice sees her mother visited by her father who are as different as a sheet of paper from an envelope, which fit one another. Also, the meaning of the name Afice is regal but especially in a sense of loyally serving others sometimes at her own peril. Ward’s sentences are resurrectional. They’re not unlike the swamp in which reside Afice and her ancestors: crucified at like our Calvary of everyday life. Who cares? It’s no big deal. But a deeper meaning is revealed, containing living ideas like icons of God. Our swamp is life.
What if there were more maroon settlements in the wilderness?
What if there was a maroon settlement in the wilderness that sprang from one escaped woman?
What if there were maroon women, escaped from slavery, who were similar to Saint Malo, peopled by Filipino American men that existed along the shore in a hidden fishing village of Lake Borgne in Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana as early as the mid-1700s.
What of the American maroons who escaped and dug caves in the riverbanks for shelter, living in such dwellings for long periods of time?
How would the aforementioned woman build a family, a community, , and guarantee their continued existence?
How would they have survived beyond being blood relatives?
How would they protect their settlement?
How would they choose their freedom from gender roles, the patriarchy, slavery, and external racism?
What would this kind of freedom look like?
What were its costs, gifts, and could it evolve?
These are the questions Ward asks in her author’s notes introducing this piece of her draft of the current novel she’s working on, released as A Point In Time Kindle Book, which follows an enslaved woman from South Carolina to the slave pens and sugar plantations of Louisiana.
But this is where most readers mistake Ward for a Black or African American literary artist writing about slavery, as if it was slave pornography for white people, instead of a major, American literary artist, maybe our the best alive, writing for everyone’s sake.
First, this example of Ward’s literary achievement isn’t asking questions about black people but women and people generally. Specifically women and their daughters, yes, but also their relationships with all kinds of other people. Not only slaves, or black people.
Second, Ward’s asking about freedom, which is common to everybody, and what it would look like if people had different choices and understood history.
Third, It’s mistaken to compare novelists and wrong to compare the personal lives of literary artists to their work, unless they do it themselves like in Ward’s case, one example is her memoir, “Men We Reap” and in two other examples include Ward’s articles in the Atlantic, KING Issue, April 2018, “RACISM IS ‘BUILT INTO THE VERY BONES’ OF MISSISSIPPI, and Vanity Fair, September 20, 2020, “On Witness and Respair: A Personal Tragedy Followed by Pandemic” and another example is John Updike’s memoir: “Self-Consciousness”.
For example. In American politics freedom in the Unites States of America has been confused with capitalism meaning money, instead of its original meaning, liberty, meaning equality.
Third. Ward’s writing about freedom with respect to its costs, gifts, and whether or not it can evolve and how. Freedom considered in these ways applies to all people, especially Americans. That’s why Ward is a great writer. Not simply a black or African American writer. To consider her one defeats the purpose of her work, its resplendent luxury, which also includes loss, grieving, and keeping moving forward. Qualities we all struggle with no matter our race, religion, political persuasion, and class.
The following include some examples fro what I read in this piece of Mother Swamp:
The concept of freedom in, “Mother Swamp” doesn’t confuse capitalism as money, instead it harkens back to the word’s original definition, liberty, meaning equality. This idea permeates this novel fragment without its being mentioned except for its juxtaposing living in the swamp from on the plantation. Not only does it possess an historical sweep, which is otherwise scarcely known, by its most common motivation: miscegenation. Essentially, Ward’s aspires to tell a story about what our historical consciousness means. Not simply her characters’ perspectives, specifically in, “Swamp Mother” by Afice but humanity’s. Only three other authors, which I’m aware of have attempted this feat: William Faulkner in, “Absalom, Absalom” and John Updike in his five “Rabbit” novels, which I consider one, and James Joyce, in “Ulysses”. Ward alludes to this goal when she describes, “Mother Swamp” in her author’s note as, “liminal.” In an effort to also achieve this goal, “Mother Swamp” is alto multigenerational.
Ward describes relationships, as being made up of individuals, in an empathic way when she tells how First Mother brought First Daughter at seventeen-years old, on an adventure to discover a displaced island of Filipino-American men. They do. In this way First Mother and First Daughter make an alliance with the island men, and First Daughter discovers a mate. Her discovery is lifechanging but described with subtlety clearly identifying each person of the pairing as separate but equal. An almost wordless interaction, which starts with a common meeting and ends with the young man saying, “Marykit,” Tagalog for beautiful. It’s also the title of the debut song by Filipino hip hop artists Juan Caoile and Kyle Caplis, which was released on May 21, 2020, about being attracted to a special woman a man can’t live without. The fact that it’s a Hip-Hop song is also relevant insofar as Civil Rights are concerned underscoring the fact that this new art form of American music directly and partly developed as an answer to Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination and the vacuum his loss left in the advancement of race relations, which hip hop has partway filled. These character alliances speak to the empathic quality of “Mother Swamp” in terms of their specificities of each group’s identity, and each person’s differences, as possibilities, without mentioning the act that conjugates their togetherness and implies love as an ongoing action.
This happens a second time in a later generation when Afice sees her mother visited by her father who are as different as a sheet of paper from an envelope, which fit one another. Also, the meaning of the name Afice is regal but especially in a sense of loyally serving others sometimes at her own peril. Ward’s sentences are resurrectional. They’re not unlike the swamp in which reside Afice and her ancestors: crucified at like our Calvary of everyday life. Who cares? It’s no big deal. But a deeper meaning is revealed, containing living ideas like icons of God. Our swamp is life.
July 29, 2022
A group of women...that escape into the swamp to avoid slavery. Generations of women.
January 8, 2023
I'm enjoying so much this Amazon series, each one has a great point in time that will make you cry or even smile and the narrations are always in point and too good to enjoy.
if you enjoy historical fiction or history I really recommend this new series.
if you enjoy historical fiction or history I really recommend this new series.
October 6, 2022
4.25 stars!
I’ve been wanting to read something by Jesmyn Ward for a long time and Sing, Unburied, Sing is waiting on my shelf, so I was excited to finally be introduced to this enigmatic writer. I was impressed by how such a short story could be so well done.
“I watch the sky, night after night. Sometimes, I think I see my grandmother, and all the mothers before her, traveling the shatter of stars across the darkness, swimming along that great river of light.”
Imaginative while still based on history—which make the best kinds of stories—this tale about a matriarchal society that grew from escaped slaves is beautifully woven.
#popsugarreadingchallenge2022 (prompt #3 - A book about or set in a non patriarchal society)
I’ve been wanting to read something by Jesmyn Ward for a long time and Sing, Unburied, Sing is waiting on my shelf, so I was excited to finally be introduced to this enigmatic writer. I was impressed by how such a short story could be so well done.
“I watch the sky, night after night. Sometimes, I think I see my grandmother, and all the mothers before her, traveling the shatter of stars across the darkness, swimming along that great river of light.”
Imaginative while still based on history—which make the best kinds of stories—this tale about a matriarchal society that grew from escaped slaves is beautifully woven.
#popsugarreadingchallenge2022 (prompt #3 - A book about or set in a non patriarchal society)
November 4, 2022
Mother Swamp by Jesmyn Ward
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3*)
This was my first short-story out of the „A point in time collection“ and it was ok for me. I had definitely bigger hopes for this one, especially what I‘ve heard of the author.
Afice is the last of nine generations of women who have survived enslavement, sickness, and hunger. Alone at age seventeen, she sets out through the Louisiana swamps to follow the trail of her ancestors and hear their songs anew. On this journey, Afice must decide how to honor her ancestors while embracing her own future.
At first I wasn‘t sure where the story plays out since no countries or cities were named but with the notes of the author at the end it is getting clear. And that was true for the whole story. For me it only made sense after I read the authors notes and that was something I didn‘t like about it. All in all it wasn‘t for me, to slow, nothing really happened and the story had to be clearified with authors notes… 😕 No recommendation from me! 😕
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3*)
This was my first short-story out of the „A point in time collection“ and it was ok for me. I had definitely bigger hopes for this one, especially what I‘ve heard of the author.
Afice is the last of nine generations of women who have survived enslavement, sickness, and hunger. Alone at age seventeen, she sets out through the Louisiana swamps to follow the trail of her ancestors and hear their songs anew. On this journey, Afice must decide how to honor her ancestors while embracing her own future.
At first I wasn‘t sure where the story plays out since no countries or cities were named but with the notes of the author at the end it is getting clear. And that was true for the whole story. For me it only made sense after I read the authors notes and that was something I didn‘t like about it. All in all it wasn‘t for me, to slow, nothing really happened and the story had to be clearified with authors notes… 😕 No recommendation from me! 😕
June 23, 2023
In this poignant short story, inspired by the resilience of communities formed by those seeking liberation from slavery, the echoes of the past resonate through Ward's narrative. While the atmospheric setting and swift pacing make for a quick read, I found the story to be somewhat melodramatic, especially in its opening sections.
Interestingly, I was more drawn to the Author's Note, which provided valuable context and insight. Overall, a thought-provoking exploration of history's enduring impact, albeit not entirely to my preference.
Audiobook, as narrated by Kimberly Woods: Woods waffled between sinking into the overwrought, performative language — especially at the beginning — and a more solid delivery, but I think that's just what's in the text, rather than a choice made by Woods.
Interestingly, I was more drawn to the Author's Note, which provided valuable context and insight. Overall, a thought-provoking exploration of history's enduring impact, albeit not entirely to my preference.
Audiobook, as narrated by Kimberly Woods: Woods waffled between sinking into the overwrought, performative language — especially at the beginning — and a more solid delivery, but I think that's just what's in the text, rather than a choice made by Woods.
November 16, 2023
“They was caught, but never us, never us, never us.”
A very interesting, slightly magical story drawing inspiration from maroon settlements & Saint Malo. Gorgeous language. I could read the novel version of this.
A very interesting, slightly magical story drawing inspiration from maroon settlements & Saint Malo. Gorgeous language. I could read the novel version of this.
September 9, 2022
This was stunning and will live in my memory for a long time.
We don't have enough stories about Maroons and what their lives consisted of and were like.
One day I will visit the Great Dismal Swamp and leave Ancestor offerings for those who survived.
I am because they were.
I could not be more proud.
We don't have enough stories about Maroons and what their lives consisted of and were like.
One day I will visit the Great Dismal Swamp and leave Ancestor offerings for those who survived.
I am because they were.
I could not be more proud.
August 16, 2022
Après un mois sans lecture, je retrouve le goût à lire grâce à Jesmyn. Une nouvelle fois.
After a month of no reading (huge slump related to the 5 heatwaves), I finally find my way back into reading - thanks to Jesmyn.
After a month of no reading (huge slump related to the 5 heatwaves), I finally find my way back into reading - thanks to Jesmyn.
August 7, 2022
I believe Jesmyn Ward could make a phone book interesting if she decided to write one.
That said, and while Mother Swamp was very good, it just left me wanting more. To me it was as if Ms Ward had sort of just concepted a full book.
This is why I don’t like short stories, for the most part. Even ones as good as this one, which (even thought it was too short) managed a heck of an emotional wallop, more along the lines of a novella.
That said, and while Mother Swamp was very good, it just left me wanting more. To me it was as if Ms Ward had sort of just concepted a full book.
This is why I don’t like short stories, for the most part. Even ones as good as this one, which (even thought it was too short) managed a heck of an emotional wallop, more along the lines of a novella.
August 6, 2022
Afice is the last daughter of a long line of enslaved women whose legacy is well known to her. As a young girl, she heard stories of the daughters and mothers who came before her and realizes she needs to determine if she wants to follow that same path or forge her own.
The narrator did well as Afice and portrayed the characters' longing to follow the steps of her ancestors with believable emotions. I was not fond of this story and found it overdone and complicated. I would be interested to see if all of her stories are done in this manner or if it was having to include more information in a shorter than usual story.
The narrator did well as Afice and portrayed the characters' longing to follow the steps of her ancestors with believable emotions. I was not fond of this story and found it overdone and complicated. I would be interested to see if all of her stories are done in this manner or if it was having to include more information in a shorter than usual story.
October 13, 2022
Stunningly beautiful writing
'Mother Swamp' is filled with beauty and power; hypnotically poetic prose, words that lift to the stars or punch you in the gut; sometimes both. I am grateful for the presence of this book in the world, both for its artistry and its prayer to understand more about the lifes of those who suffered, and suffer, under slavery.
'Mother Swamp' is filled with beauty and power; hypnotically poetic prose, words that lift to the stars or punch you in the gut; sometimes both. I am grateful for the presence of this book in the world, both for its artistry and its prayer to understand more about the lifes of those who suffered, and suffer, under slavery.
November 3, 2023
Jesmyn Ward wrote this so it's obviously beautiful and expertly weaves history into the present. However, this one was a bit slow for my taste. Not sure what I was expecting when I started, but this didn't personally hit the mark for me. Afice is an interesting character, and the slow decay of her family's way of life in the swamp and her being faced with the decision to stay or make her way in the wider world was interesting to listen along to, but it's not something I'd revisit, I don't think.
April 28, 2024
I have great admiration for for Ward’s writing and have loved almost everything I’ve read. I found the premise to be really interesting and could really feel the ache of the character telling this story. I listened to this on a walk which distracted me at times and may have kept me from being as engrossed as I expected to be.
July 28, 2022
I am a Jesmyn Ward fan and I really enjoyed this short story .
Very good writer and one of our country's best writers.
This is the story of maroons , Blacks who left plantations and set up communities in the swamps. Very intesting read.
Very good writer and one of our country's best writers.
This is the story of maroons , Blacks who left plantations and set up communities in the swamps. Very intesting read.
July 28, 2022
A prose poem about a colony of women who escaped slavery into the swamps and survived as a community. Short -- just 23 pages -- but able to create a spell.
July 28, 2022
A wonderful short story by Jesmyn Ward, one of my favorite authors.
August 25, 2022
Nice, poetic. Way shorter than I expected.
May 8, 2023
Great short story by a favorite author.
February 22, 2024
In this short story, poetry turns to prose before the reader’s eye.
December 11, 2024
This was such a good book to end the novella series on. Jesmyn has a way with words, and I will definitely need to add more of her books in the new year.
August 23, 2025
Interesting story about escaped slave communities, told in a fable-like manner. The postscript on the history behind the story was interesting as well.
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