Good Dirt
Charmaine Wilkerson
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 368 Pages (Hardcover)
Audiobook: 11 Hours, 27 Minutes
Publication Date: January 28, 2025
Get More Info: Goodreads | Storygraph
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Publisher’s Description
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well.
The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby’s high profile romance falls apart without any explanation, that’s exactly what they get.
So Ebby flees to France, only for her past to follow her there. And as she tries to process what’s happened, she begins to think about the other loss her family suffered on that day eighteen years ago—the stoneware jar that had been in their family for generations, brought North by an enslaved ancestor. But little does she know that the handcrafted piece of pottery held more than just her family’s history—it might also hold the key to unlocking her own future.
In this sweeping, evocative novel, Charmaine Wilkerson brings to life a multi-generational epic that examines how the past informs our present.
Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson is published by Ballantine Books (Penguin Random House).
Content Advisory
This book contains scenes that depict a miscarriage and mentions of sexual assault.
About Charmaine Wilkerson
Charmaine Wilkerson is an American writer who has lived in the Caribbean and is based in Italy. She is a former journalist and recovered marathon runner whose award-winning short stories can be found in various UK and US anthologies and magazines. Black Cake (2022) was her first novel (Goodreads, 2025).
Read more about Charmaine Wilkerson here.
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