very well writen memoir about identity and learning more about heritage from a nat geo explorer and researcher. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Finding yourself as you learn more about your ancestors is a truly remarkable journey. There were so many beautiful moments that happened throughout the author’s journey to figure out where her ancestors came from and learn more about herself. I learned a lot about scuba diving and what goes into becoming a great diver.

Written in the Waters is an incredibly powerful story about how one woman's chance decision to learn to scuba dive in order to work with an organization called Diving With Purpose leads her on a journey of self discovery and finding her sense of home in the world. Tara Roberts tells a captivating, informative, and moving tale of how she faced her fear of the ocean and learned to scuba dive so she could dive the wreck of slave ships with DWP. But in doing this, she decides that she wants to also focus her time and energy on telling the stories of the people lost to the seas in the slave trade. This takes her to numerous countries where she meets incredible characters. Each stop and conversation begins to not only shape her understanding of herself and the world around her, but also guide her to the next location and pursuit of information. In a the most heartfelt of ways, Roberts brings herself, and her readers, back home to a place of acceptance, understanding, and possibly even contentment with the past, present, and future. A must read for African Americans that struggle to feel connected to their roots - and certainly for every person to truly understand the intricate webs that the slave trade, colonialism, and paternalization has woven and continues to weave in the daily lives of all people.

Roberts pieces together her travels diving and searching for slave ship wreckages through her stint at National Geographic. A fascinating chronicle that covers genealogy and history from early slavery across the world. The diving experiences are interesting, satisfying the adventure seekers . And the addition to the African narrative is important. The writing is well done and the subjects covered are thoroughly explained. The water and the accomplishment make this a solid read.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

Thank you Netgalley and national Geographic for the ARC.

I had never heard of Diving With a Purpose before I read this book. It is just a great organization and more people should know about it.

Tara Roberts’ journey in this memoir is really inspiring.

A Biography About Exploring Slave Shipwrecks That Is Enclosed in Impassable Fluff

“Memoir by a National Geographic explorer recounts one woman’s epic journey to trace the global slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean—and find her place in the world. When Tara Roberts first caught sight of a photograph at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History depicting the underwater archaeology group Diving With a Purpose, it called out to her. Here were Black women and men strapping on masks, fins, and tanks to explore Atlantic Ocean waters along the coastlines of Africa, North America, and Central America, seeking the wrecks of slave ships long lost in time…” Tara is a podcaster, who was the first Black female explorer to be featured on the cover of Nat Geo, and she was the Rolex national Explorer of the Year in 2022; she is an Explorer-in-Residence at National. “She tells a story of exploration and reckoning that takes her from her home in Washington, D.C., to an exotic array of locales: Thailand and Sri Lanka, Mozambique, South Africa, Senegal, Benin, Costa Rica, and St. Croix. The journey connects her with other divers, scholars, and archaeologists, offering a unique way of understanding the 12.5 million souls carried away from their African homeland to enslavement on other continents… She decides to plumb her own family history and life as a Black woman to help make sense of her own identity…”
Again, this book is off to a bad start: the “Prologue” describes the Women’s March… with slow non-specific phrases. The author notes that at this time she was “moonlighting as a tour guide at a local museum for $10 an hour to pay my bills.” This is a bit relevant, but then she digresses into politics, and friends… Notes about grocery shopping follow. Then, the story gets to the “discovery” in a museum display of a Portuguese slave ship. Her “heart” is affected, and she starts on a new path. She digresses into her love of “fantasy books”. Many pages later: “Something calls me to Sri Lanka.” She has general ideas about it being “a friendly and welcoming place”. Paragraphs pass with nothing related, such as: “Relax, I think. One step at a time” (29). The blurb made a lot of promises. But this book mostly delivers questions, like, “Who are Africans in the Americas? Beyond a people who were enslaved in chains and sadness and sorrow” (42). When she mentions “Jack” Roberts, an enslaved person, she describes her emotional turmoil before she imagines his “rough skin, hairy knuckles” (46), instead of reporting the facts… The first quarter of this book passes before there is a mention of researching shipwrecks, and beginning a journey out there (94).
This is not a good book. It is too linguistically light, and structurally unfocused to handle the sensitive topic it undertakes. This seems to be an attempt of applying pop-fiction short sentences and paragraphs, and digressions to biography, and history. This combination always flops.
—Pennsylvania Literary Journal, Fall 2024: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/plj/plj-excerpts/book-reviews-fall-2024

Written in the Waters by Tara Roberts is a compelling look at one woman's journey to finding answers about the history of how African Americans came to the United States and the extreme hardships they endured. She actually didn't start out with this quest in mind. A chance encounter at the newly opened Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture with a photograph of a group called Diving  With a Purpose changes the trajectory of her life and career.

I learned a lot about her experience, from the moments in her life that she shares. Many of the black people I know judge so much of their lives by the color of their skin--from the treatment they receive from others to what their lives are like and the type of work they can ultimately get. The author does to. This has never been a part of my of life, and I think other whites should read books like this and find out first hand how difficult the life of a person of color can be.

The book is heart felt, and the author's personal observations and experiences  make this an outstanding book to read. Thank you Tara for sharing your story.

An Inspiring Dive into History and Heritage

Tara Roberts' memoir offers a compelling narrative that is both informative and deeply moving. Despite having no prior knowledge of diving or the underrepresentation of People of Color, particularly from the Black community, in the sport, I was captivated by the insights this book provided. Roberts meticulously highlights organizations like Diving with Purpose, which work towards increasing representation and promoting diving within marginalized communities.

What stands out most in this memoir is Tara's indomitable spirit. Her resilience in the face of numerous hardships and her determination to continue her journey is truly inspiring. The accounts of archaeological dives on slave shipwrecks were particularly enlightening, offering a poignant look into a painful history.

Roberts' journey to reconnect with her heritage and ethnicity is not just a personal quest but a significant narrative that underscores the importance of understanding and reclaiming one's roots. This memoir is a testament to bravery, perseverance, and the profound impact of exploring one's heritage.

Tara Roberts is a National Geographic Explorer in Residence who documents shipwrecks that once carried captive Africans during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. This is her story of she started doing this and what she has learned from it. I learned new ways of looking at history as well as things I didn't know. There was a maritime underground railroad. Have you ever considered the damage to ecosystems by the Transatlantic Slave Trade? Roberts challenges most of what I thought I knew about the slave trade, including in Africa. Fascinating book. Read it!

Written in the Waters is more of a recount of the author's diary entries that follow her love of water and Black American history in the United States. This follows her journey from being PADI certified for scuba diving to diving around the world to be accepted as a diver with a group that focuses on the archeology and anthropology of the slave ships that were wrecked during their passage from Africa to the Americas. A main part of the author's story is that of her self discovery.

I love history and have lived in several countries that were part of the slave trade. I was able to see the cultural after effects. I learned a lot and aspects I knew nothing about especially since I am not part of the African diaspora.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy.

Absolutely incredible -- part memoir, part travelogue, part history book. All the things you never learned in history class are here to devour. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me engaged and it only took a few days to read. I think this is going to be a good book club option for several clubs. I plan recommending to my book friends and I look forward to reading more by this author.

An intriguing story of self-identity. Tara French is a freelance journalist who, when visiting the newly opened African American museum, becomes intrigued by the explorations of a Black diving group who searches for and retrieves artifacts from slave ships. This discovery leads her on a journey as she learns to dive and becomes a member of dive teams searching for lost ships. During her journey she seeks to come to terms with her own heritage and culture as she travels across the world following the routes of the slave trade. French successfully weaves her own story with the history of enslaved peoples, relying on historical discoveries, to trace this abominable practice.
Her courage and determination lead her to many interesting people, locales, and research.
An extremely well-documented exploration of slave trade across the world and its continued effects on our culture and civilization.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in history, especially as it pertains to slavery.

First, thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this memorable and important book. Robert's beautiful prose made me feel as if I were on this journey with her and have met the many fascinating people she encountered. What an incredible opportunity was given to her and she certainly made the most of it.

As we discover in the book, much of the history of Afro Americans and slavery has been obscured, often deliberately, but the groups she introduces us to are focused on filling in the gaps and telling the stories--the human, day to day stories of the people who were captured and turned into slaves by a savage system whose effects still prevent countries and people around the world from truly being free and accepted as equals. I wish I had her eloquence to describe this to you, but I don't. You simply need to read this book.

Apart from the appalling history that is uncovered, Roberts shows us the love, accomplishments and even joy of those ancestors. I was grateful that she was able to find such a positive and uplifting way to close the book. As a Angl0-American stories of slavery are hard to read and almost impossible to understand, and the many hidden ways the system is perpetuated today is depressing, so hearing the positive stories was wonderful and actually equalizes those held in slavery. I'm not explaining this well at all--I guess I'm trying to say that eliminates the sense of "other" that bigotry and hatred rely on.

I'm rambling now, so I'll stop and start looking for another book by Tara Roberts and more on the work of DWP and SWP and the other organizations searching out their history.

Unfortunately, I was not able to access an assistive reader for this arc, either in the NetGalley app or in Kindle. I need this accessibility device because I have diminished vision. I recommend the publishers and Netgalley to make ARCs accessible by assistive readers to prevent excluding other visually impaired readers.

Please make assistive readers available on arcs for readers with diminished vision!

I was intrigued to learn more about the world of Black scuba diving, broadly, and diving for slave ships, narrowly. Tara Roberts is an only in many spaces and places and a trail blazer. Unfortunately, the writing was hard for me to get into and so the story itself wasn’t as good as I would have liked. This is the kind of book where I wonder if final finishes to tighten it up will make a difference in the published product. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not sure what I was expecting before I picked up this book by Tara Roberts, but I am so glad that I did! It was so much more than just a history lesson - it was about finding your own place in the grand scheme of things. I have never dived myself but her imagery and descriptiveness was on point and really helped me to see and imagine everything she was describing. I really recommend this book to anyone who likes history, diving and oceanography.

Tara Roberts hears about a group (Diving with a Purpose) that is diving to find slave ships that have been lost at sea. It called to her. She becomes part of the group to find these lost pieces of history & the lives that were lost on those ships. Tara Robets tells the tale in a wonderful way so that you see her extraordinary journey.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy of the book. This story is beautiful, sad and eye-opening. The author takes you on her own personal journey to find her place in the world and brings in so much history incredibly weaving them together. In the end I feel like I took in a history book worth of information, yet in the most enjoyable read possible. Her writing style and imagery makes it easy to take in the things she has seen along the way. Would recommend to anyone who enjoys stories on personal discovery, history, archeology, diving and well anyone who wants a great non fiction read.

This is more of a woman's journal than an actual book. Tara Roberts is African-American and is interested in the ships that brought slaves from Africa to the US but sank en route. Of course, I've heard of the Titanic (bunch of white folks) or the Lusitania (same) but what about the Henrietta Maria? I hadn't heard of it either - it was a slave ship that sank in the Atlantic.
I learned so much about our African-American brothers and sisters through this book. I rather naively thought we were equal - because in my mind we are - but I was so wrong. I think she said only about 1% of scuba divers are black and they are very interested in the skeletons of the ships. These trips are supported by National Geographic and Tara had to pass several tests - including doing a number of dives (was it 30?) before she would be considered for the program.
Because most of the ships sank 150+ years ago, there are few remnants of the slaves, but the chains and manacles are still there - which remind Tara of the horrors those slaves felt as the ship was sinking and they could not escape.
I applaud her courage for taking this on.