My Monticello
Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
'ELECTRIFYING' Colson Whitehead
'ABSOLUTELY UNFORGETTABLE' Roxane Gay
At a time of rolling blackouts and terrible storms battering America, the neighbourhood of First Street, Charlottesville comes under attack by violent white supremacists. A group of friends, families and strangers flee together in an abandoned bus and head for the hills above town.
Led by Da'Naisha Love, they arrive at Monticello, the historic plantation-home of Thomas Jefferson, deserted but for its ghosts. As a young Black descendant of Jefferson and Sally Hemings, Da'Naisha has a complex relationship with the house. Tentative at first, the group explores rooms, forages on the grounds, and finds a kind of shelter. But the terror from their town is coming closer, and soon they have an impossible decision to make.
My Monticello is the story of nineteen heart-stopping days of refuge and reclamation, told by Da'Naisha with courage and with grace. This deeply moving novel is a searing indictment of racism past and present, and a powerful vision of resistance, community and hope.
'ONE OF THE FINEST NOVELS OF 2021 and A FUTURE CLASSIC' The Bookseller
Early readers love My Monticello (reviews from NetGalley):
'So much to love... A truly astonishing debut' *****
'What an incredible voice she has' *****
'Deserves the praise heaped upon it' *****
'Johnson's writing is vivid and bold' ****
'The end is terrific, terrifying and mind blowing' ****
'Raw, powerful and a great contemporary voice' ****
'Definitely deserves a spot on your reading list' ****
Product Details
About Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
Reviews for My Monticello
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A badass debut by any measure - nimble, knowing, and electrifying
Colson Whitehead, twice-Pulitzer Prize winning author of THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD and THE NICKEL BOYS
An electric new literary voice
Esquire
Absolutely unforgettable. Johnson's prose soars to remarkable heights
Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of HUNGER and AYITI
Unputdownable... Extraordinarily powerful... One of the finest books of 2021 and a future classic
The Bookseller, Book of the Month
My Monticello is a magnificent debut that holds so much in its gaze. This breathtaking, artful book is a gift
Megha Majumdar, New York Times bestselling author of A BURNING
I was enthralled from the opening lines of this book. Stunning
Charles Yu, National Book Award-winning author of INTERIOR CHINATOWN
This is a stunning debut by a brilliant and original new voice
Danielle Evans, award-winning author of THE OFFICE OF HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS
Johnson's debut book is stellar
Kirkus (starred review)
A powerful and beautiful read
Nina Pottell
Prima
An extraordinary debut from a gifted writer with an unflinching view of history and what may come of it.
Washington Post
Johnson is a great observer. The novel is full of stunningly precise figurative language... [it's] utterly absorbing...a meditation of how the brutal past of slavery still has a potent legacy in contemporary America; it also portrays the redemptive powers of love and care
Tomiwa Owolade
Daily Telegraph
This powerful and memorable book is a must-read
Joanne Finney
Good Housekeeping
A powerful, thought-provoking novel
Sarra Manning
Red
[A] tenderly rendered apocalyptic novella... Johnson is an unusually sensitive writer, combining a mood of impending doom with language of soulful beauty
Claire Allfree
Daily Mail
This brief, brilliant gut-punch of a novel is frighteningly plausible... Lush, harrowing, and entirely believable - a marvel of economy
Paul Connolly
Metro
My Monticello is short, satisfying and punchy: more debuts should be like this
John Self
The Times
Stunning
Eithne Farry
Mail on Sunday
Chilling, affecting and intelligent
Stuart Kelly
Scotland on Sunday
This brief, brilliant gut-punch of a novel is frighteningly plausible
Paul Connolly
Metro,
Christmas Gift Guide 2021
My Monticello is a bleak story but reading it elicits the same kind of sensation that comes from listening to a poignant blues song: there is pleasure in its creation without denying the pain of the subject
Colin Grant
Guardian
A history lesson, a fable, an inquiry into the nature of historic monuments, a heartfelt tale of community and above all a nail-biting story.
Guardian