Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt. For this ARC in exchange for this honest review. I was a bit disappointed in the authors use of “creative nonfiction “ in this novel which I often saw reflected in the seemingly fabricated dialogue and conversations. Too many times it felt like the author was merely surmising a character’s actions leaving the reader unsure of whether it actually took place. Is this a work of fiction or historical fiction? I was expecting more of a biographical novel so was a bit disappointed. Sorry but not one I would recommend.

The subtitle of this book is Eleven Generations of an American Family and indeed the author is a descendant of an indentured servant (white) and an enslaved man (black). She does a great job researching the past about Benjamin Banneker (who was was a naturalist, mathematician, astronomer and almanac author) as well as imaging life for her ancestors. Benjamin Banneker was quite accomplished but of course in the erasure of black history I had never heard of him until reading this book. The author also connects with many relatives and has to confront her own whiteness as she explores the shared ancestry with her black relatives. She does a great job bringing forward the problematic nature of the perception of centering her whiteness in this story -- I feel like she struck a really good balance and this book made me reflect and sparked my interest and curiosity to learn more. I recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Henry Holt & Company for an ARC and I left this review voluntarily.

Interesting creative non-fiction about a white woman researching and getting to know the black side of her family. The creative part is a fictionalization of her ancestor and the world in which they lied. I enjoyed this tell and its blend of fact and fiction. A good read which I recommend.

Several parts of this book made me cringe, to put it lightly. I don't even know where to begin with the critiques. First, Webster carelessly combines history, historical fiction, and memoir without taking much care to distinguish between the parts. I could continue the list and could almost forgive that if Webster, a white woman, had taken her head out of her own ass long enough to realize that this story is not about her and that by spending so much time naval gazing she inflicts significant harm on the people she tries to call family. By the end, I was hate reading the book, disgusted at how she made the story all about her.

Benjamin Banneker and Us
Eleven Generations of an American Family
by Rachel Jamison Webster
Pub Date 21 Mar 2023
Henry Holt & Company, Henry Holt and Co.
Biographies & Memoirs



I have been provided with a copy of Benjamin Banneker and Us by Henry Holt and Co and Netgalley for review:



As relatives reconnect across lines of color, culture, and time at a family reunion, the past and present engage in an unforgettable genealogical journey.



Benjamin Banneker was a Black mathematician, a writer of almanacs, and one of the greatest astronomers of his generation hired by Thomas Jefferson to help survey Washington, DC in 1791. He then wrote what would become a famous letter, imploring Jefferson to examine his hypocrisy, as someone who claimed to love liberty yet was an enslaver. Rachel Jamison Webster, an ostensibly white woman, discovers that her distant relative is this groundbreaking Black forefather.




By drawing on oral history and conversations with her DNA cousins, Webster tells the story of the lives of their shared ancestors over a period of eleven generations, including Banneker’s grandparents, an interracial couple who married when America was still a conglomerate of colonies under British rule. A number of these stories shed light on the legal construction of race and demonstrate the brilliance and resistance of early African Americans in the face of increasingly unjust laws, some of which are still in force today.



I give Benjamin Banneker and Us five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

“Benjamin Banneker and Us: Eleven Generations of an American Family,” by Rachel Jamison Webster (Henry Holt & Company ISBN 9781250827302, Publication Date 21 Mar 2023) is a worthy read for anyone interesting in their origins. When you search for them, be prepared for some surprising and uncomfortable truths. This book earns a strong five stars.

I was excited to discover this book, to learn more about Benjamin Banneker, and to see how he shaped early America and United States of today. The extracts from his writing were a special treat, and clear a voice for freedom, opportunity, and democracy as there ever was. Banneker was an African American naturalist, mathematician, astronomer and almanac author. In this case, the descriptor “African American” is absolutely right and proper to remind us that Americans of all ethnicities have a vital voice in who we are and what we do. In this way, Banneker continues to mentor all of us.

Excerpts from Banneker’s “Almanack and Ephemeris” stopped me cold and caused me to reflect on why Banneker’s greatness isn’t far more widely known. Not surprisingly, his almanacs featured an annual calendar, statistical information, phases of the moon, astronomical data, and tide tables—all his areas of expertise. However, Banneker's almanacs were special beyond words because they featured eloquent social commentary and politically oriented literature that rivals anything ever expressed by Jefferson, Madison, and others.

What I didn’t expect, but was happy to learn about, is the author’s personal search for clarity on issues such as race and culture, and their effects on the multi-generational genealogy of families…in this case, the author’s family. Being an amateur genealogist myself, I appreciated the time and effort needed to ferret out the details that appear so easy to present but require great sacrifice to collect, organize, and understand.

Sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley, Henry Holt & Company, and Kindle, for granting this reviewer the opportunity to read this Advance Reader Copy (ARC), and thanks to NetGalley for helping to make that possible.

Benjamin Banneker is one of the most fascinating early Americans and his personal story would be enough to fill a book. However, the story of his parents and relatives is another fascinating aspect of his life. Rachel Jamison Webster’s book is a well-researched, thoughtful discussion not only on Banneker, but on race, America, family and the stories we tell or don’t tell. Webster, a White woman, found out that she was a descendent of Banneker, but her family had turned away from their Black ancestry and family because it was easier and an economic advantage to be White in America. Webster does a great job telling her story and the story of her relatives including Banneker. The book really benefits from her discussions with her Black relatives. I really enjoyed this book as it blended so well all these different aspects of the story. However, where it might fall a little short is in the reimaging of events. It isn’t always abundantly clear on what is based on facts, stories or just imagined. It could be that I read an ARC of the book on my e-reader so being able to see end notes, might make that clearer in the hard copy. However, I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about the early history of America, Banneker, family, or race.

This book is written by one of almanac maker Benjamin Banneker's distant relatives. Part of the book is a presentation of the history of the author's ancestors, while another part covers the author's journey to discover more about that history. There is a third part, where the author creates a sort of historical fiction imagining what her ancestors' lives were like. Any one of these parts on its own would have been okay. A presentation on historical events on people can make a good book, as can a book about uncovering your own history. Historical fiction can also be very interesting. But when you put all of these things together, as was done in this book, they merge together in a way that no longer serves the purpose of its parts. Frequently in the book, I had no idea what parts were based on actual historical records and evidence and what parts the author was creating to have an interesting historical narrative.

Similarly, when the author discusses her journey to learn more about her ancestors, she often reproduces entire conversations. From the text, it doesn't sound like she was running around recording everything that she and other people said. Many books get around this by presenting a general idea of what happened instead of trying to recreate a word-for-word conversation, since the reader will naturally have a hard time assessing how much of it actually happened.

Overall, while I can appreciate what the author was trying to do by exploring her ancestry, it would have been a better book if there was a stricter editor to narrow her focus.

Eloquently written, this book is insightful for today’s politics and should be high up on everybody’s list.

With the new technologies, DNA tests have surfaced unexpected results for many in this country. Rachel Jamison Webster discovered after a DNA test, there was a reason she had a tan skin tone. She has Black ancestors and now newly-located cousins.

After an intense amount of research, she found that she was connected to the Banneker-Lett families. Benjamin Banneker was self-taught and the author of several hand-written almanac books in the late 1700s. He hand-carved a working wooden clock and was hired by President Washington’s team to survey the DC area. He later questioned Thomas Jefferson about the meaning of freedom while having “enslaved brethren.”

Parts of this book are not easy to read. It reflects on the truth of what it was like for Africans to be kidnapped from their tribes. She said they were stacked three on top of one another in the ship, chained by their ankles into bunks with no cushions and forced to lie under the urine, diarrhea and tears of one another. After arriving to the US, the survivors were cleaned, fed and sold to farmers.

Every other chapter, the author reflects on parts of her own life and research where she digs deep into racism in our country, voting rights and media depiction. She shared several personal conversations she had with her Black cousin Robert. Too often, harsh conditions from our country’s past are forgotten or shamelessly whitewashed.

The book is well written and it took some time for me to get through as I stopped to take notes. At the end, she includes helpful resources: archival collections, books, articles, genealogy, lectures, news and podcasts.

Afterwards, I updated my DNA results only to find an African connection. Most of us will never know the truth about our family records.

My thanks to Rachel Jamison Webster, Henry Holt & Co. and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy with an expected release date of March 21, 2023.

A British woman who had been an indentured servant and a kidnapped African freed from slavery married in the mid 18th c. Their grandson was a brilliant, self-taught scientist who helped survey the city of Washington, D.C. and wrote an almanac that sold across the East Coast.

Generations in the future, a woman discovers that her family had passed into whiteness and seeks to discover her famous ancestor and connect with her preciously unknown distant cousins.

As a historian she wanted to write the story of Benjamin Banneker. As a white woman, some of her black cousins said it wasn’t her story to tell.

This is about as an American a story as one could imagine. Its about the legacy of slavery and the divisiveness of race. How Banneker’s white mother and grandmother were ignored by blacks, fearful that racists would credit the scientist’s intellect to his white genes. How the scientist dared to write to Thomas Jefferson, attacking his inability to live what he had penned, and how Jefferson’s racism couldn’t allow him to recognize Banneker’s genius.

When Mary Welsh and Banaca married in 1696, indentured servants and African slaves worked and lived side by side. Interracial relationships were not unusual. Their daughter Mary also married an freed African slave, who took his wife’s name. Their child Benjamin became famous as a young man when he created a wood clock of his own design, having only studied a pocket watch.

Over time, some members of the family identified as white and their ancestor Banaca was forgotten. It was a surprise to the author when she learned that a family member’s DNA showed their relationship to Banneker and their black cousins.

The author imagines her ancestors’ lives, and documents the joys and strains of reconnecting with family.

Webster’s journey of discovery makes for fascinating reading, as memoir, as history, as a genealogy study.

(PS: It was interesting to learn that my ninth great-grandfather David Rittenhouse wrote an abolitionist article for Banneker’s almanac!)

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

One of the most engaging biographies I've read in a while! The author's connection to Benjamin Banneker is fascinating as she is a white woman, and Banneker was a free Black man. How did this come to be? Using historical records and family narratives that she collected when speaking with her DNA relatives, Rachel Jamison Webster imagines what her ancestors may have been like-- creating a more rounded picture than the history books. This book gets into interracial marriage, laws against it, and what it meant for her ancestors leading up to her present day. Definitely recommend for those who enjoy reading and learning about history.