When the Reckoning Comes -

LaTanya McQueen

Harper Perennial

2021

256 páginas

8h 32m

ISBN-13: 9780063035041

A haunting novel about a black woman who returns to her hometown for a plantation wedding and the horror that ensues as she reconnects with the blood-soaked history of the land and the best friends she left behind.

More than a decade ago, Mira fled her small, segregated hometown in the south to forget. With every mile she traveled, she distanced herself from her past: from her best friend Celine, mocked by their town as the only white girl with black friends; from her old neighborhood; from the eerie Woodsman plantation rumored to be haunted by the spirits of slaves; from the terrifying memory of a ghost she saw that terrible day when a dare-gone-wrong almost got Jesse--the boy she secretly loved--arrested for murder.

But now Mira is back in Kipsen to attend Celine's wedding at the plantation, which has been transformed into a lush vacation resort. Mira hopes to reconnect with her friends, and especially, Jesse, to finally tell him the truth about her feelings and the events of that devastating long-ago day.

But for all its fancy renovations, the Woodsman remains a monument to its oppressive racist history. The bar serves antebellum drinks, entertainments include horrifying reenactments, and the service staff is nearly all black. Yet the darkest elements of the plantation's past have been carefully erased--rumors that slaves were tortured mercilessly and that ghosts roam the lands, seeking vengeance on the descendants of those who tormented them, which includes most of the wedding guests.

As the weekend unfolds, Mira, Jesse, and Celine are forced to acknowledge their history together, and to save themselves from what is to come.

Resenhas (5)

4 (Muito bom)

Um legado banhado a sangue!

O livro perfeito para os fãs de "Corra!" do Jordan Peele. "When the reckoning comes" é um livro com uma carga histórica, pesada, mas que jamais poderá ser esquecida.

A história acompanha Mira, uma mulher preta, que volta a cidade onde nasceu para o casamento de uma amiga de infância. Mas ao chegar lá se depara com um ambiente hostil, predominantemente branco e cercado de situações perturbadoras.

O livro conta com descrições de cenas fortes e está repleto de gatilhos, principalmente de agressões racistas. Mas não é um livro feito apenas para chocar, ele tem um intuito e carrega uma mensagem. Uma mensagem sobre a importância de reconhecer privilégios e jamais esquecer a que custo eles vieram.

A história enfatiza que todos temos antepassados envolvidos nesse passado sombrio, sejam eles como vítimas ou opressores, mas que cabe a nós decidirmos o que fazer com esse "legado". Que não se pode esquecer o passado, para assim não repeti-lo.