Jesmyn Ward Reveals Her inspiration | Oprah's Book Club #103 | Author Profile | Jesmyn Ward

National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward is no stranger to the hardships of Black Americans, but around eight years ago an unknown fact piqued her curiosity. I was listening to NPR and I heard a show called Tripod which is all about New Orleans history and so this particular show was about the New Orleans slave markets. They were called slave pens and the historian said that there were only two markers in the city of New Orleans to mark where the pens were and one of them was in the wrong location and so I realized that all that history had been erased. Immediately the character who would become Annis just popped into my head. But around eight years ago an unknown fact piqued her curiosity. A lot of research was required to write this story because once I decided to write Annis' story I realized I knew nothing about American chattel slavery. I mean I hadn't taken a history class since high school. We may have gotten a paragraph on American chattel slavery and that was it. I spent two and a half years reading books related to American chattel slavery but also you know reading books about how to navigate nature. Her latest novel Let Us Descend tells the story of Annis, a young enslaved woman who is forced to embark on a painful journey after being sold off. One of the things that Annis is wrestling with is the outer world is intent on dehumanizing her, flattening her and making her less than she is. I also think that one of the things that Annis struggles with in this book is grief. As Jesmyn wrote Annis' narrative she was navigating her own grief. In January of 2020 as rumblings of the coronavirus started to reach the United States her partner passed away from acute respiratory distress syndrome. Before my partner died I had written around three chapters of Let Us Descend and I had sort of stalled out and I wasn't making any progress so it was just very hard for me to sink into her experience and I didn't write anything for like six months. Then I heard this little voice that's the last thing that he would want for you. It was like I was recommitting myself you know to the work and so then I went back into the book and I was able to understand her. I needed to write Annis because I feel like she taught me that even when you suffer great loss that hope remains and that by living through your grief you can find your way to a new version of of your life. Let Us Descend is a reimagining of American slavery and a tale of resistance in the face of horrible cruelty. My hope is that it will resonate with generations to come. One thing that I was witnessing on social media when I was writing this book was that whenever the topic of you know American slave American chattel slavery would come up people would say things like oh it couldn't be me or that could never you know that I'm not my ancestors but no you want to be your ancestors right? I mean that should be you because they were constantly resisting were constantly pushing back against this system that was attempting to dehumanize them. This novel is a vital work for our culture and my offering to you as my 103rd book club selection. I also want my kids to understand that life is worth living and that they should always sort of hold on to that seed of hope that you can create a better reality.