Good Dirt: a novel by Charmaine Wilkerson came out on January 28th, 2025. It reflects on trauma and how to cope with grief. This novel is a great choice to read for Black History Month, relating America’s history with present racial issues. It has a compelling plot, complex and lovable characters, and short chapters. It features a complex, endearing African American protagonist. It also changes timelines to discuss the other main characters and has several points of view, making this story enjoyable to read. The novel is fast-paced and a quick read.
The story revolves around the main character Ebony Freeman. She is recovering from the trauma of seeing her brother, named Basil, being shot in a home invasion. To escape her past, she flees to France to try to cope with her grief. This novel reflects on The rippling effects of violent crimes, trauma, and grief on the lives of everyone. It goes into the family’s different ways of coping with the tragedy.
The historical aspects of this novel touch upon when slavery was present and the impact it had on American history. The historical flashbacks begin with the character Kandia, a woman taken from her village to be a slave. She gives birth to Moses, an enslaved potter, as he creates a jar that is a symbol of hope, preservation, and overcoming difficult challenges in your life. This inspired Willis, an enslaved man to flee from his owners and have his freedom.
This novel highlights that you can’t run away from your trauma, no matter how hard you try to outrun it. You have to face it head-on to be able to move on. Ebby realizes she can’t outrun her trauma, but instead grow and learn from it
There are also multitudes of characters that are all well written, realistic, and complex. They’re multidimensional with layers that make up who they are. The characters in this novel help move the plot, making it more character driven than plot driven. This is very unique in novels, I often don’t see this a lot in literature which made me more intrigued.
Throughout the story everyone is trying to avoid something from their past. Whether it was the past racial injustices, being stood up, a tragedy, or anything in between. Ebony’s parents teach their children how to act in order to avoid judgment from others. They had to keep their emotions in check, avoid using slang, and couldn’t afford to be seen painting a bad picture for others of their race. This makes the novel an excellent choice to read this Black History Month, with a wide variety, of African American history during the slavery time, and present-day of what African Americans struggle with in the modern day.
