On Witness and Respair: Essays
“[A] tribute to the power of hope, beauty, and resilience." —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The collected creative nonfiction of a singular American writer, Jesmyn Ward, including widely shared classics, three never-before-published speeches, and an introductory essay.
Respair (noun, obsolete), fresh hope after despair.
From the two-time National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author Jesmyn Ward, this collection of essays documents more than a decade of work in the life of a singular writer. “Known for her moving and award-winning fiction, this collection of essays gives readers a sense of the powerful Southern woman behind the unforgettable stories” (Garden & Gun). Beginning with her upbringing in a multigenerational household in rural Mississippi, the cradle of both her youth and her gift for storytelling, Ward brings her keen wisdom and hauntingly lyrical prose to a collection, following in her grandmother Dorothy’s footsteps when she promises always to “Tell it straight. Tell it all.”
True to her word, in these pages Ward contemplates the writers and novels of her youth and adulthood as well as her approach to both fiction and life: reflecting on the power of the novel, how to raise a Black son in an era of rising divisiveness and cruelty, as well as her own personal tragedies—including the titular essay of the collection, which tells the story of her partner’s sudden death on the eve of the COVID-19 epidemic. “You see from her buoyant writing about friends, family, food, and other topics that [Ward] would be one of our best Southern writers without so much agony. Her resilience is plain; so is the sense that she’d be happy to have trouble no more” (The New York Times).
As piercing and moving as her fiction, On Witness and Respair is a monument to hope, beauty, and personal and collective resilience.
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Community Reviews
In this interesting book of essays, Jasmine Ward discusses her childhood, college years, marriage, and the tragedies she and her family experienced. The most devastating was losing both her brother and husband. She was brief in discussing her husband’s loss during Covid, which is understandable, but provides more detail about the loss of her brother. He was driving home from work when a drunk driver hit his vehicle. The man was sentenced to five years for leaving the scene, not for what really happened: manslaughter. Judicial bias has long been a cliché in southern justice.
Ward has always been a voracious reader and notes her disappointment at the few black writers available to her. Fortunately, she found Morrison, but one thinks of the other brilliant female writers such as Butler, Walker, Wilson, Hooks, Marshal, Dove, and so many more who wrote during that period. Did Ward’s local library include Morrison but ignore these other literary award writers? It’s not that Ward didn’t look.
Ward’s father abandoned them, forcing the mother to support the family on the income of a house cleaner. Despite this financial barrier, Ward attended a private high school, which certainly gave her an advantage as she approached college. She felt different because of her skin color, and the other teens were not kind. The sad truth is that millions of school children are judged because they are perceived to be different based on the judgment of a social segment within the student hierarchy.
This book is an important read from a noteworthy voice. Fans will surely find it interesting as Ward discusses what led her to write and offers many personal stories.
Many thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for providing this eARC.
