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A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots
by Morgan Jerkins
From the acclaimed cultural critic and New York Times bestselling author of This Will Be My Undoing - a writer whom Roxane Gay has hailed as "a force to be reckoned with" - comes this powerful story of her journey to understand her northern and southern roots, the Great Migration, and the displacement of black people across America.
Between 1916 and 1970, six million black Americans left their rural homes in the South for jobs in cities in the North, West, and Midwest in a movement known as The Great Migration. But while this event transformed the complexion of America and provided black people with new economic opportunities, it also disconnected them from their roots, their land, and their sense of identity, argues Morgan Jerkins. In this fascinating and deeply personal exploration, she recreates her ancestors' journeys across America, following the migratory routes they took from Georgia and South Carolina to Louisiana, Oklahoma, and California.
Following in their footsteps, Jerkins seeks to understand not only her own past, but the lineage of an entire group of people who have been displaced, disenfranchised, and disrespected throughout our history. Through interviews, photos, and hundreds of pages of transcription, Jerkins braids the loose threads of her family's oral histories, which she was able to trace back 300 years, with the insights and recollections of black people she met along the way—the tissue of black myths, customs, and blood that connect the bones of American history.
Incisive and illuminating, Wandering in Strange Lands is a timely and enthralling look at America's past and present, one family's legacy, and a young black woman's life, filtered through her sharp and curious eyes.
"A thrilling, emotional, and engaging ride that almost commands the reader to turn the page, Wandering in Strange Lands is required reading, accurately widening the lens of American history." - Booklist (starred review)
"Jerkins's careful research and revelatory conversations with historians, activists, and genealogists result in a disturbing yet ultimately empowering chronicle of the African-American experience. Readers will be moved by this brave and inquisitive book." - Publishers Weekly
"Although her search sometimes proved unsettling, in the end, Jerkins was able to 'tease out the interwoven threads of who I am as a black woman.' A revelatory exploration of the meaning of blackness." - Kirkus Reviews
"Unfortunately, [Jerkins] relies on questionable sources for some of her more extreme examples of anti-black racism and at times draws conclusions that are unwarranted by the available evidence. These drawbacks lower her credibility overall. Recommend to readers seeking spiritually-informed black narratives or oral histories and fans of Jerkins's first book; less useful for readers seeking factual histories of the Great Migration." - Library Journal
"A blend of reportage and memoir, this is just one story of many of this time—and one not to miss when it comes out." - Book Riot
"Wandering in Strange Lands intertwines segments of past and present travel, as a reminder that the past is present in the U.S." - O, the Oprah Magazine
"Traveling throughout the country, [Jerkins] explores the path her family took as well as her cultural identity as a black woman. Her desire to understand both her personal and cultural origins will inspire you to do the same." - ELLE
This information about Wandering in Strange Lands was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Morgan Jerkins is an associate editor at Catapult whose work has been featured in the New Yorker, Vogue, the New York Times, the Atlantic, Elle, Rolling Stone, Lenny, and BuzzFeed, among many others. She lives in New York.
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