Book Description Review “Stunning. … Family is at the core of Remembrance, the breathtaking debut novel by Rita Woods.” –The Boston Globe “An ambitious, absorbing novel. … Woods creates memorable characters in all four settings, each with a distinct purpose that helps make the impossible relatable. Remembrance is a well-researched, epic historical fantasy.” — NPR “Woods’ writing is assured, the historical settings vivid, and her characters fully realized. Hand this to fans of Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing and Octavia Butler’s Kindred, who will appreciate this complex, genre-blending debut.” –Booklist”Fine attention to sensory details and brutal honesty concerning the horrors of slavery and racial relations over more than two centuries of American history make this a standout.” –Publishers Weekly”The novel’s originality makes it worth reading.” –Kirkus Reviews Read more About the Author RITA WOODS is a family doctor and the director of a wellness center. When she’s not busy working or writing Dr. Woods spends time with her family or at the Homer Glen library where she serves on the Board of Trustees. Remembrance is her first novel. Read more Customers Review: Rita Woods’ deft writing and compelling narrative makes it difficult to believe that Remembrance is her debut novel. While some commenters have remarked that the jumps between points of view detract from the stories, I find that to be one of the novel’s strengths. Rita’s intriguing descriptions of Gaelle’s and Winter’s interactions, Margot’s survival and escape, Mother Abigail’s overarching presence and life in Remembrance propel the novel and compel contemplation of the women’s positions, predicaments and powers. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found her characters in all four settings memorable, remarkable, and relatable in their loss, endurance, suffering and flourishing.
Just a wonder book! I am so surprised that this is her 1st pubListed novel. A definite page turner. Bravo
I wanted to read this book because I’m a huge fan of books that are both historical fiction and fantasy or science fiction. The protagonist, setting, and concept of this book reminded me of an Octavia Butler book, but the author, Dr. Rita Woods, has created something a little more unique and all her own.Remembrance doesn’t really contain time travel per se but does span two centuries, and it connects the lives of four distinct women over time. The struggles and circumstances that bond them are the meat of the story, but the author doesn’t waste any time letting us know that this is going to be a supernatural type adventure when Gaelle seems to have a superpower and a special bond with a mysterious Jane Doe patient at the nursing center. From that point I was pretty much hooked.As the story develops and starts time jumping, we meet slaves and eternal entities and even entities who cannot be described really. The author seems to be able to keep all of this going without risking believability. I actually want to believe these people and supernatural beings exist.Where this book falls a little short for me is in the world building and the background information. There should be more and it should be richer and less forced. I think there could have been more research done into the eras and how the cities really were but since it’s fantasy and alternate reality a lot is forgivable.Also, I didn’t feel a bond or connection with any of the characters. I simply wanted to know how the story ended. When I read a similar book by Octavia Butler I was absolutely transported and it felt like I was reading the story of my ancestors and their deliverance. I wanted to feel that here and I didn’t. But I still got a really good story.I would definitely read this author again.
I received an Advance Reading Copy of Remembrance by Rita Woods from the publisher (Forge) in exchange for an honest review. Remembrance is scheduled for release on January 21, 2020.Remembrance is a historical fiction/ magical realism novel that takes place in two different time periods. The story follows two women in the pre-civil war era and one woman in the current day. Their stories intertwine in the novel, exploring the boundaries of physical space and stretching the limits of time.The bulk of the story takes place in and around the settlement of Remembrance. This is a community of blacks who have set themselves apart from slavery-torn America. The settlement is led by Mother Abigail, a woman with the ability to manipulate space. She protects her community, keeping them hidden from the world around them, allowing them to live a life of freedom and choose to interact with the larger world only when they choose to. At the time of the story, Mother Abigail is beginning to fade, and looking to pass her role in the community on to her her adopted daughter, Winter.Winter is struggling to find her place in the community, and struggling to figure out what powers she might, or might not, have. Due to Mother Abigail’s failing health, the boundary between Remembrance is fading, thrusting Winter into interactions with the world she is not prepared for.In a parallel, but later, time, we also follow Gaelle. Gaelle works in a nursing home, where she takes care of a mysterious older woman no one seems to be able to connect to. Gaelle breaks through to the woman, learning that her name is Winter, and that strange things happen when the two of them are together.The story in Remembrance is well-developed, painting a clear picture of a community fighting to survive in a changing world. It is filled with a cast of characters with goals and challenges that drive the story forward. The story in present day was less well developed. I found myself struggling to connect this story with Remembrance, other than the obvious connection of Winter. I ended up feeling that the novel would have been complete without the current day story, since it did not seem as well-developed or important to the book as a whole.The same applies to the characters. We spent enough time with Winter and Mother Abigail for me to understand who they were and get invested in their goals. I did not feel the same for Gaelle, largely because I just didn’t get enough time with her.Overall, I thought Remembrance was a sometimes lovely, sometimes terrifying, sometimes magical novel that might have been even better with some adjustments to the modern-day portion of the story.
Let’s address the elephant in the room first: I don’t normally read adult historical fiction. So I’m not really in my comfort zone with this book. I think I had too high expectations in regards to the type of conflict that would be in this book.That said, I definitely enjoyed the beginning. It introduced the idea of the three time periods and perspectives very well. It was interesting reading the separate pieces and trying to figure out why they were put together and how they connected. However, this concept was sort of thrown out the window when two of the perspectives combined so we were just flipping between two time periods.Gaelle, in the present day, is the most under-utilized in my opinion. Her chapters were very short and only made a little sense by the end.Margot was maybe my favorite perspective, but by the end I had to ask myself “What was her purpose?”I enjoyed Abigail’s chapters in the first third, but then the last two thirds lost their spark for me.The plot felt aimless. There were small goals and conflicts, but I never understood the end goal, and even by the end I was kind of disappointed. |
41 reviews