Remembrance of Things

Past and Present

By Fran Withrow 08.2020

“Remembrance” is the story of four strong Black women, each with a special power that will ultimately connect them to one other and to Remembrance, a safe haven for Black people who have escaped from slavery. Remembrance is a magical place that prevents whites from discovering its location, so people who live there can do so without fear.

 Debut novelist Rita Woods, a family physician, has created a compelling tale, filled with authentic dialogue and accurate historical portrayals that enrich both her characters and the story itself. The saga sprawls across centuries, from the 1790’s to the present day, and spans geographical areas from Haiti to Louisiana to Ohio. Covering so many locations and such an extended time frame might be daunting for some authors, but Woods handles it with ease.

 We are first introduced to Gaelle, originally from Haiti, who now lives in present day Ohio. A nursing home aide, she is inexplicably drawn to one of her charges, a mysterious old woman who won’t talk, prefers to watch the news rather than “Dancing with the Stars,” and whose real name is unknown.

 Margot lives in Louisiana in the 1850’s. Though she is a slave, her cherished grandmother, who is a healer, and her little sister help make life tolerable. But when she and her sister are torn from their grandmother and sold to pay a debt, life becomes unbearable. She and her sister run away, desperate to find a better situation elsewhere.

 Abigail loves her strong husband Hercule and her two young sons. Their life of slavery in Haiti in 1791 is heavy with toil, but their tight-knit family brings Abigail joy. All that changes when Hercule is murdered. Abigail is forced to leave her precious sons behind and accompany her mistress to New Orleans. The loss of her family might have done her in; instead she embarks on a new life far different from any she could have imagined.

 Winter was a baby when she came to Remembrance, and she has never known life as a slave. When slavers inexplicably appear in Remembrance and kidnap her, she will need all her wits, as well as her special power, to survive.

 The further I read into this book, which blends historical fiction and magical realism in a masterful way, the more deeply enthralled I became. Woods ties the lives of these women together in an ingenious way, slowly and carefully revealing their relationships with one another. Her descriptions of the tragedy of slavery are perfectly executed, and her skilled hand at building suspense around the inevitable fate of Remembrance keeps the reader hooked.

 I’m not a fan of books that wrap things up in a nice tidy package: that’s not how real life is, so I appreciate the way Woods deftly pulls the story together, leaving the reader to imagine what lies ahead. I don’t know how she had time to write a novel as well as practice medicine, but I hope she is hard at work on another one.