A Kind of Freedom: A John Murray Original

Luminous and remarkably assured first novel ... shines an unflinching but compassionate light on three generations of a black family in New Orleans who try to make the best choices they can in a world defined at every turn by constraint, peril and disappointment ... For a debut novelist to take up such charged material is daring; to succeed in lending free-standing life to her characters without yielding an inch to sentimentality - or its ugly twin, pathology - announces her as a writer of uncommon nerve and talent - New York TimesCompassionate and readable, the novel vividly captures the pressures faced by African-American families in a country still racked with racial tensions - Sunday TimesA compelling debut novel . . . Race, class, unemployment, drug wars and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina all factor into Sexton's multigenerational tale, illustrating the persistent racial disparities in our so-called 'post-racial' America - Mercury NewsThis generational arc is largely related to systemic racism, but to simplify this novel as an exploration of such minimizes Wilkerson's incredible achievement . . . This remarkable debut marks Margaret Wilkerson Sexton as a writer worth watching - Chicago Review of BooksIt's hard to believe that A Kind of Freedom is Sexton's first novel . . . This is a book for our time - New York Journal of BooksThis emotionally wrenching, character-rich debut spans three generations in a city deeply impacted by segregation, economic inequality, and racial tensions . . . In this fine debut, each generation comes with new possibilities and deferred dreams blossoming with the hope that this time, finally, those dreams may come to fruition - Publishers WeeklyA well-crafted - and altogether timely - first novel - Kirkus ReviewsA fascinating exploration of the long-lasting and enduring divisive legacy of slavery in the US . . . a story that will pull you in and keep you hypnotised - Stylist