⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson. The author of Black Cake has done it again with her sophomore novel. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. Ebby Freeman’s world was shattered when her older brother was killed in a home invasion. The family’s treasured stoneware jug, dating back to their slave origins, was also destroyed in the invasion. Years later, Ebby is marrying a most eligible bachelor type & the wedding ends up being called off. We travel back in time through generations of Ebby’s ancestors who were slaves. We journey with the Freeman family as they become one of the most illustrious New England families. I was hooked from the first page & loved it. Thumbs up! #bookstagram #whatiread #charmainewilkerson #gooddirt #bookgram #reading #books #reading #netgalley #goodreads #bookworm #thumbsup

I’ve been waiting for a new Wilkerson novel and it’s been two years but well worth the wait!! I could not put this book down! Wilkerson’s characters and the story are so well developed that you will forget you’re reading a novel! Along the lines of Black Cake, this story also is about “something” passed down through generations of a black family. This book would be a great movie! Thank you so much for the advanced read!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for allowing me to read a digital ARC of Charmaine Wilerson's "Good Dirt," with a publication date of January 28, 2025. "Good Dirt" is the second novel I have read by Ms. Wilkerson, and it won't be the last. "Good Dirt" and "Black Cake" were both great novels, but I didn't enjoy the former as much as the latter. "Good Dirt" tells the story of Ebby Freeman and her parents and the impact of the murder of her brother, Baz, upon the family. Baz's murder is tied to a stoneware jar, a precious heirloom made by her ancestors that has been in the family for years. As each Freeman family member deals and comes to terms with the trauma in their lives, the reader learns about their ancestor's journey from Africa to America, their lives, struggles, and trade as they passed a stoneware jar, a precious heirloom from one generation to the next.

I loved the multi-generational perspectives and felt invested in the characters, past and present, lives, and feelings of joy, pain, and sorrow. Good Dirt is both a historical and inspirational novel with universal themes of betrayal, forgiveness, faith, survival, perseverance, pride, and, most of all, everlasting love.

I can't get the quote carved in the jar written centuries ago by Ebby's ancestor out of my mind, revealed at the end of the novel; it is apropos. I highly recommend "Good Dirt." You can't go wrong purchasing this book and adding it to your collection.

4/5

This was another amazing book by Charmaine Wilkerson! I really enjoyed how the author weave historical fiction, multi -generational , murder, and trauma in one story. The how she switch different time frames and perspectives in this outstanding novel, I never given too many books 5 stars , however this book deserves more than 5 stars. Hopefully they will make this into a movie.

The new book from the author of Black Cake is a slow burn mystery set between coastal Connecticut, historic Massachusetts, and provincial France (dream locations for a cozy read). Similar to Roots and Homegoing, it is a multigenerational tale about a Black family over two hundred years, focusing on a family heirloom, a family tragedy, and modern day main character Ebony Freeman, a very private girl who is forced to grow up in the spotlight.

Wilkerson traces the Freeman family through an inherited clay jar, sculpted by an enslaved relative in the 1800s, into the present as the Freeman’s grow into one of the most established and wealthiest families in their communities. It asks questions about race and money, asking the reader to think about whether wealth erases American racial prejudices or illuminates them, and whose history is considered American history.

Its characters experience grief, PTSD, and the healing benefits of travel, form unexpected friendships, explore love, and incorporate inherited objects and inherited stories into their identities, while learning to thrive amidst a culture of individuals who feel entitled to what is not rightfully theirs. It’s an emotional journey.

I love a good art history mystery and was very excited to read more from Charmaine Wilkerson after loving Black Cake. This book was a bit slower to build than is my preference and didn’t hit quite as deeply for me as her previous novel, but it’s still lovely, thought provoking, and beautifully written, with complex and endearing characters.

After thoroughly enjoying Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, I was excited to get approved for this book. Ebby Freeman, the daughter in a prominent Black family, gets her personal life splashed in the papers again after her fiance leaves her at the altar. Her previous experience with rabid journalists came when she was ten, and her older brother was killed trying to protect the family heirloom. The rest of the novel details Ebby's encounters with her past, telling the story of how the family obtained the family heirloom jar and how she had learn to cope with her past.
While I definitely enjoyed reading the different points of view, I think there were maybe too many characters included in the various chapters. That's the only reason why I would give this a 4.5/5.

4⭐

Thank you to the author, Charmaine Wilkerson, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson is a beautifully written, heartwarming exploration of family, identity, and the secrets we keep. The story pulls you in with its multi-generational narrative, touching on how the past echoes into the present and affects relationships in profound ways.

At the heart of the novel is a family confronting long-hidden truths, and as their stories unfold, you feel like you’re right there with them, uncovering each layer. Wilkerson’s writing is smooth and evocative, with just the right amount of emotional depth. She paints a vivid picture of how personal and cultural histories intertwine, showing us how the things our ancestors lived through shape who we are today.

What makes Good Dirt stand out is its emotional honesty. The characters feel real, and their struggles—whether with family bonds, identity, or reconciling with the past—are relatable and touching. Wilkerson switches between different perspectives and time periods, which can be a little jarring at first, but ultimately it adds to the richness of the story. It’s like putting together pieces of a puzzle, and when they finally click, it’s incredibly satisfying.

If you enjoy character-driven stories that dig deep into family dynamics and the messiness of love, loss, and reconciliation, Good Dirt will stick with you long after you finish it. It’s a heartfelt read that feels both intimate and universal.

I enjoyed this book. A story about long standing family history, US history really. The story is woven through hundreds of years, from our main character, Ebbys enslaved ancestors to her modern day, wealthy African American family. They were one of the first black families to live in this affluent town, and showcases the difficulties fitting in that they had as a very prominent wealthy family within this community. The story weaves back and forth in time. I had a hard time with the history & ancestor's part of the story. I found it slightly slow, and was kind of bored throughout it. I did enjoy Ebby’s part of the story, especially the part in France. It was a beautiful setting, and that added to her story a lot for me.
There were a lot of characters and POV in this book, and it took me quite a while to get a grip on it. It was honestly hard for me to follow at times. That was the hardest part for me with this book.
All in all I really enjoyed the story, and I would recommend this book.
Thank you Net Galley & Random House/Ballantine for the ARC.

Exquisite novel with beautiful writing. After thoroughly enjoying Black Cale, I was thrilled to get an ARC of this novel and was not disappointed! The engrossing story drew me in immediately and I couldn’t put it down until the last page. Highly recommend!

Wow. I love Charmaine Wilkerson's writing. It's gorgeous. I truly enjoyed the premise of this novel-the jar crafted by an enslaved potter and carried throughout the main character's family history. Even the jumping around in time worked for me. Ebby's story of family, love, loss, and trauma are heartbreaking and real. If you enjoyed Black Cake, you'll love this one. I couldn't put it down, and wanted to keep following Ebby's story when it was over. Very well researched, well-written novel and I'm glad I read it. Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine books for the ARC!

The story starts at Ebby and Henry's wedding, except he never shows up. He simply ghosted a woman who he claimed he loved. We don´t know why he did that or what has happened. A year later wounded and depressed Ebby travels to France to clear her head, but things will get somehow complicated there. In the meantime, we get to know the story of Old Mo a clay jar made by an enslaved man who happens to be Ebby's ancestor. We also hear the story about the murder of Baz, Ebby`s brother. So Ebby carries within herself not only her family's tragic history but also the burden of losing her brother and being abandoned. The death of Baz is a big issue here:
"There was the moment before and there would be everything after. And in time, Ebby would come to understand her role as the surviving Freeman child. To be uncomplicated, to be successful, to stay alive."
That is exactly who Ebby is except for complicated.

The writing style is excellent. The novel is quite climatic. The stories about Ebby`s ancestors are written with tenderness and empathy. However, constant jumping in time is overwhelming. There are too many timelines and way too often we jump from one person to another. There are slow parts that add nothing of very little to the story.
The drama is not convincing at all. We don´t find out why Henry has ghosted Ebby until late in the book and that made my eyes roll. Ed, Ebby`s father behaves as if he has his own secret too, yet when we get to the bottom of it it`s just ... meh.
What`s really bothering is how American society is portrayed. If the African American people really see the world in black and white colors only (Ebby`s people vs. Henry's people)... That`s not the world we want, do we?

Good Dirt is an intriguing blend of multigenerational family drama and historical fiction. The story follows Ebby, who escapes to France after a failed wedding, and dives into her family’s past—tracing back to enslaved ancestors and a symbolic clay jug. I appreciated the different perspectives and time jumps, though the multiple timelines made the narrative feel a bit meandering at times. While the ending left some threads unresolved, it’s still a beautifully written exploration of grief, trauma, and resilience. Fans of Black Cake will enjoy this one!

"There are no words to capture the meaning of a person's life."
Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson is a sweeping family saga spanning six generations of the Freeman family - wealthy Black Americans living on the New England coast in an exclusive enclave. Their family has lived in the area for several hundred years. When the 15-year-old son Baz is killed in the afternoon during a home invasion, the only witness is his 10-year-old sister, Ebby. This changes the course of their lives for not only did they lose Baz, they lost a precious family heirloom crafted by an enslaved ancestor. The Freeman family has to pick up the pieces of their broken family trying to overcome the trauma and the attention of the community. I was riveted by this story that alternates between their ancestors and modern day, giving clues to the motive behind Baz's death. Themes of family, legacy, the effects of trauma, race, class and more are present in this poignant story. In the end, we all are the authors of our own story. The human spirit has the ability to grieve, love, to move on, and embrace life with joy. I loved this story and was captivated by a piece of American history that was new to me. Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House - Ballantine and Charmaine Wilkerson for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Charmaine Wilkerson's debut novel, Black Cake. So I was delighted to get my hands on an advance copy of Good Dirt, expecting to love it just as much.

I didn't.

Black Cake was about family history as it revolved around an old family recipe, and the metaphor worked perfectly. Good Dirt is about family history as it revolves around . . . a piece of pottery. And it just doesn't work as well.

Ebby's life after her brother's unsolved murder makes for a compelling story, but forcing that story to wrap itself around a jar came off stilted and forced. A jar made by an enslaved ancestor is certainly an important heirloom, but nobody is that attached to a pot. Putting funny hats on it and taking photos like it's a member of the family? Really? I realize that the history of enslaved people is not my history, so maybe I just don't get it. If that's the case, this book may appeal to a lot of people in ways I can't understand. But it just didn't work for me. Maybe it wasn't supposed to because it wasn't written for me. Fair enough. This was my personal experience of it and nothing more.

The story of the jar is preachy and disjointed, hopping around in a historical timeline that doesn't flow well, especially with so many different Freemans to sort out. The buildup to the big reveal of what was written on the bottom of the jar was also a long run for a short slide -- in the end, what's written on the bottom is a cliche, and while it may be true, it's hardly earth-shattering.

A couple of times I thought the book was going to take off in a mystery-solving direction -- who killed Baz? Why? But every time it looked that way, the solution was revealed almost immediately and amounted to nothing in terms of storytelling.

The story worked best when it focused on Henry and Ebby, why they split, and why Ebby didn't want him back. I think I would have liked it better if it had stayed there, revolving around Ebby's PTSD and Henry's inability to deal with it, and left out the story of the jar.

I'm hoping this is just the curse of the sophomore novel, and that Wilkerson will be back to her Black Cake-caliber storytelling with her next one. This one just doesn't measure up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book.

Good Dirt is a perfect story of family history - the stories we tell, and often, the secrets we keep. Charmaine Wilkerson does a fantastic job of tell the Freeman family story from multiple perspectives and how their family not only deals with a devastating family loss, but how their history is intertwined.

I believe this story of Baz, the jar and The Freeman family will be a 2025 favorite. With learning about a family’s past and how it formed their family traditions, but also how their history can be shared with others. The empathy I felt for each character and how you learned more about each character through another POV - it’s very well written.

Good Dirt is a sprawling family drama by Charmaine Wilkerson, the author of the beloved title Black Cake. This book returns with her style of a multi-perspective narrative that spans generations.

Good Dirt is the story of a Black family in the Northeast United States with a precious heirloom, a large pot crafted by one of their ancestors who was enslaved. When an armed intruder entered the home twenty some years ago, the pot was broken and the eldest child was killed. Now his younger sister must reckon with their past, acknowledge the trauma she faced and that of her family, and try to find love.

I felt so connected to the characters in this novel, our main character Ebby is a deeply relatable mess. As her life falls apart right when she thinks it is coming together, I read her decisions as realistic and relatable- they were messy, sometimes unwise, and usually the best she could do. Wilkerson does an excellent job weaving a mystery throughout this family drama that makes the book impossible to put down.

If you loved Black Cake, you'll almost certainly love this one. I found the pacing to be more even and in my case the characters easier to empathize with. I hope you'll add this to your list if you enjoy literary fiction!

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an advance copy of this novel about a family who tries to move on from trauma, by not dealing with past, only to find some thing can never be forgotten.

The past is never dead. It's not even past. This quote seems to sum up America in many ways. This country is still fighting the battles politicians were too scared to wage, and compromises that neither side were going to follow. I am a second generation American. Both my grandparents fled their homeland in search of a better life, along with most of their friends and family. As Irish they suffered prejudice, rumours about their behavior, and their loose morals. Time has softened this view, not because humans have changed, but because other groups have come in that seek a better life, and the spotlight of hate and ignorance has turned to them. These people came here by choice. Some came to this country, not by choice, but because this country allowed slavery. Slaves had no choice in coming, no choice in working, no choice where they lived, or wound up, and left with nothing, not their names of even their own stories. Some were left only with trinkets, memoirs of bad times made better, which is what the novel looks at Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson is a story about the Freeman family, and family free from the past in name, only linked by chains of pain, loss, and uncertainty of what the future holds.

Ebby Freeman lost her brother when she was ten years old. Baz was killed in a house invasion gone wrong. Along with his life, the family also lost a treasure passed down by the family from the days when the first Freeman came North escaping slavery. The incident took place in a small town, where things like this never happened, and was of constant speculation and gossip as the crime has gone unsolved. The Freeman family has never really discussed this, not wanting the attention but soon everything begins to wrong. Ebby is left at the alter by her fiancée, and stories begin to spread why. Ebby flees the State to Europe and sanctuary in France. As Eddy reevaluates her life and dreams, her thoughts keep turning to the old heirloom that was broken. An heirloom that might be the reason why her brother was killed, and one that could help the family come to an understanding about their pasts, and their future.

This is Charmaine Wilkerson second book, which is very hard to believe. There is a confidence that is rare in second books, a sureness and a way of plotting that really brings readers in, and keeps them flipping pages. There is an old adage about being a rock band, one has their whole life to make their first record, 1 year to make their second. Second books are usually a bit of the same as the first, but this one really goes deep, with a lot of thoughts about being human, dealing with trauma, and family relations. The book starts fast, and slows down, giving readers and the characters a chance to breathe, to take in what is going on. There are moments where the characters are just being characters, not plot points to be ticked off as chapters pass. There is much in this novel that is not aimed at me. I am male and white, and have never been jilted. That makes no difference. Charmaine Wilkerson writes in such a way that one can't help but feel empathy for the characters, and understand what they are going through.

A fascinating novel one that doesn't forget the characters while looking at the past, and how the past always effects us, from the indifference of others, to the cowardice of those who should know better. Charmaine Wilkerson has quite a career ahead of her, and I look forward to more novels.

I am making a bold statement here, but I am going to say this will be one of 2025's best books. Good dirt is an amalgamation of family and love but most of all it shines in its humanity.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc of this upcoming book!

A beloved family heirloom passed down for centuries. Precious stories told about ancestors whose memory lives on through the clay jar. A family tragedy that changes everything forever.

Ebby Freeman is just ten when thieves break into her home in pursuit of the heirloom jar that her family lovingly refers to as Old Mo. She and her brother, Baz, weren’t supposed to be home. In trying to protect Old Mo and everything the jar means to their family, Baz is shot and killed. The crime was never solved, but the Freeman family became famous for all the wrong reasons - a black family in a prominently white community, struck by violence, and a destroyed historic artifact at the center of it all.

Years later when Ebby is left at the alter, the last thing she wants is more media attention after a personal tragedy. She takes off for France to clear her mind, only to run into her former fiancé and his new girlfriend.

In her journey to heal for a promising future, Ebby must deal with the past - including what happened to her brother 18 years ago, and the centuries of ancestors before her whose stories might hold more answers than she could have ever imagined.

I don’t like to talk about star ratings these days because taste is so subjective, but I will sing 5 star praises for Good Dirt all the live long day. An astonishing read. Incredibly well written. A beauty of a story. Add it to your TBR this coming January; it’s a book you don’t want to miss.

I became a fan of Wilkerson after reading Black Cake so was excited to read her newest novel. She tackles some big issues, such as the effects of trauma and grief on families, and the effects of slavery and racism across generations. Ebby, as a young girl, witnessed a home invasion in which her brother died, and she has been dealing with its effects her entire life. Her emotions explode when she is abandoned at the altar on her wedding day and she flees to France. The object that the home invaders were seeking is a piece of pottery, affectionately called Old Mo, that was smashed during the invasion. Wilkerson uses these two constructions to tell the story of the jar across generations of slavery, and to follow Ebby and her families journey to wholeness after the death of her brother.
Well-written and researched. The story of the jar was fascinating and engrossing. The exploration of childhood and generational trauma was explored effectively.
One criticism is that it was somewhat repetitive in areas but overall a meaningful story.
Recommended for general audience, especially those interested in Black fiction.