Good Dirt: A Novel

I really enjoyed this book. I love books that go back and forth between the past and the present, and I love historical fiction. Some of the retelling of the enslaved family members really broke my heart, but It was needed to connect the readers to the main character's family's love of their heirloom.

Good Dirt invites readers deep into its characters’ interior worlds, relying on introspection rather than dialogue to move the story forward—a choice that offers emotional depth but sometimes leaves the narrative feeling stagnant. While I understood the intention behind the dual timelines—to braid ancestral history with the present—the connection often felt more intellectual than lived. The symbolic jar, positioned as both heirloom and vessel of liberation, never quite carried the emotional gravity it was meant to. Instead, it read as a crafted metaphor rather than an embodied link between generations. Still, I appreciated the novel’s ambition to explore inheritance, healing, and the quiet echoes of the past—it just didn’t always feel as rooted as its title suggests.

Good Dirt left me feeling deeply connected to the characters and to the past. I was moved by how one broken jar could carry so much history, grief, and love. Ebby’s journey felt honest and tender, and I appreciated how the novel honored memory. It reminded me that healing isn’t always linear, and that sometimes the most ordinary objects hold the most extraordinary truths.

I struggled to get through this one, which is upsetting because I loved Black Cake. It’s a slow read. There’s way too many POVs and the jumping between timelines and characters is an incoherent mess. I really didn’t get into the story until Part 3 (over halfway through the book). Part 3 is when the central story really takes center stage. I feel like the first half of the book I was waiting for it to get to the point and then I was truly engaged in the second half.

I don’t think it’s fair to compare this to “Black Cake” but for me this was just a bit toooo slow for my liking. The characters were developed but still felt flat to me. I enjoyed the history weaved into the story and the commentary on race but I just struggled to remain engaged overall. The multiple shifting timelines were also a bit of challenge to keep track of it all.