In just five years, Jesmyn Ward lost five men close to her—victims of drugs, accidents, suicide, and the cruel realities of life in poverty. These tragedies led her to ask a painful question: why? Growing up in rural Mississippi, Ward realized their deaths were tied to the systemic racism and economic hardship they faced every day.
As the only one in her family to escape through education, Ward writes with a deep understanding of the struggles her community faces. In this heartbreaking memoir, she confronts the loss of her brother and friends, examining the pressures on Black men and the women left behind to hold families together.
How does one survive the unbearable weight of loss and still find the strength to tell the story?
