Charmaine Wilkerson's newest novel is a triumph. This story crosses oceans and timelines ultimately focusing on how tragedy shapes who we become. Ebby Freeman, the story's protagonist, was ten years old when her older brother was murdered in their home. During the home invasion, a priceless family heirloom was destroyed. This horrific event thrusts the family into the spotlight they never wanted. Now, as an adult, her family is once again the object of scrutiny when Ebby's fiancee leaves her at the altar.. In an effort to collect the pieces of her life and put herself back together Ebby escapes to France. There she must recon with her past in order to secure her future.

"History is a collective phenomenon. It can only be told through a chorus of voices. And that chorus must make room for new voices over time."

This book was incredible. It deals with grief, generational trauma, and forgiving yourself in such a beautiful and engaging way. It is an incredible example of how our past impacts the present and all stories are valid and important to history.

4.5⭐️Charmaine Wilkerson delivers another outstanding novel. This is a truly multi-generational drama going back to when the main character’s ancestors were enslaved and their ensuing freedom. The novel explores how their stories were passed down and the family heirloom at the center of it all. It was enlightening to learn about the role of pottery and seafaring in the Black experience. I especially loved the MC’s parents and grandparents. Publishes in January. But in meantime, if you haven’t read her previous book Black Cake, I highly recommend.

I picked this up expecting some sort of mystery, a whodunnit. This was NOT that, although my detective persona was satisfied by the end. I really enjoyed this story. Ebby is such a likable and relatable character. Her grief and trauma is near perfectly explained. I really liked the multiple timelines and multiple points of view. I haven’t read Black Cake yet, but I’m moving it up on the TBR! 10/10 recommend!

What a ride. This book is a beautifully woven tapestry of generational stories, experiencing trauma, racial reckoning, family, romantic relationships, and the legacies we leave behind. I will be thinking about this book for a very long time! Can't wait for the release so I can choose it for the historical fiction book club that I host, I'm sure it will spark a really terrific conversation!

Charmaine is officially an auto buy author for me. Black cake was beautifully done and it’s one of the first book to movies that I thought was done perfectly. I went into Good dirt blindly but it worked in my favor. It’s another generational book that both educates you on family and culture, alittle bit of romance, lots of scandal and lots of characters. I found myself getting lost as we got deeper into the family history but in true Charmaine nature she pulled it all together greatly. Def recommend.

Instagram: @chyannediaries 1/28/2025
Goodreads: Chyanne Diaries: 9/1/2024


This was a book that I read that was not what I expected it to be. Maybe it was because I had not read the entire blurb of the novel but I wanted more. I wish we knew more of the brother’s death and who was responsible for it. But I think that was suppose to add to the plot. But the main theme that stood out for me was grief. This family held on to that grief for years and it was causing a strain on them. Yes, I believe that grief is different for everyone as I’ve seen and experienced it, but them not addressing it just followed them for years. There was no happiness in that. Also, I did not see the point in Avery’s POV and character. She was good for her part but she was not needed as much as Wilkerson put her in. But, oh well. It was a decent read nonetheless.

Charmaine Wilkerson declared herself as one to watch with her debut novel, Black Cake, and I think her second novel, Good Dirt, is even better! Wilkerson has a wonderful way of weaving fiction and history and I look forward to reading her next book.

The Freemans are an affluent Black family that move into an exclusively white, high-brow enclave. This automatically makes them very visible to the community. When the Freemans become victims of a home invasion this puts them in the national spotlight. Ebby, only 10 years old at the time, is devastated when her 14 year old brother is shot and killed. Ebbie hid in the house and has never been able to talk about what happened. This has impacted her whole life from media visibility to psychological and emotional issues. These issues are awakened when Ebbie is stood up at her marriage ceremony by a well-known white man. Knowing this will become a media frenzy, reigniting the memories of the home invasion, Ebby flees to France and her friend, Hannah. As Ebby tries to cope with the happenings of her life, a second story is brought in. Alternating chapters tell the original story of the Freemans from being slave trafficked to freedom. Both time lines are completely separate and easy to switch between.
Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the complimentary digital ARC. This review is my own opinion, in my own words.

This was a beautifully written books that explores a family’s history through multiple time periods, multiple voices, and by following an heirloom stoneware jar named Old Mo.

The book explores trauma, slavery, racism, mental health, and the impact our history on our futures. It is not a fast read, but it is a meaningful read, and I highly recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and the author for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date 01/28/2025

"This is the story of our family, Baz once told her. And their mom, who’d overheard him, said, That’s true, Baz, but not only. Because our history is everyone’s history. Our history is American history."

When I was in college, I took a class on African American history and wrote a paper about the tradition and art of quilting - the familial stories that quilts told and passed on through generations. "Good Dirt" is a powerful novel about six generations of the Freeman family, all connected by a 20-gallon clay jar that serves as a vessel of their stories—stories that encompass enslavement, tragedy, affluence, and collective healing.

At the heart of the novel is Ebby, who as a child witnessed the tragic death of her brother. In the present day, she finds herself left at the wedding altar, grappling with how to reclaim her life. Wilkerson expertly shifts between the perspectives of various characters, from those who were stolen and enslaved to those who escaped, and from Ebby's parents and grandparents to others connected to the family's history. The clay pot, known as "Old Mo," becomes a symbol of survival, made under forced labor but bearing a literal hidden message that resonates through time.

Wilkerson weaves these complex stories with skill and depth, creating a narrative that is both intricate and moving. I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of this book, which is set to be published in January. I highly recommend adding "Good Dirt" to your 2025 reading list.
#GoodDirt #NetGalley

I was SO EXCITED to get this ARC because I really liked Wilkerson's novel "Black Cake"! Even though my expectations were high, "Good Dirt" did not disappoint! Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. The characters were so engaging and I was invested in finding out what happened to them. Following multiple timelines and seeing the impact of family stories & trauma through generations was so well done. I also love how there was so much suspense built around the 5 words in the bottom of the jar and I cried at the end when it was revealed. Well, I cried several times throughout because I was drawn into the emotions of the characters.

Charmaine Wilkerson has created another dynamic and compelling novel about the life of a modern Black woman, her family, and their long history. She toggles between modern day, and many centuries past, connecting all the stories, and in doing so, drawing a very important portrait of American history. She uses a physical object, and heirloom, to connect the generations, and that imagery worked in wonderful ways, providing the object an emotional history of its own.

I was not fully connected to the characters, but appreciated the story, and was fully invested during its unfolding.

Thank you for the ARC.

I thought Black Cake couldnt be topped but Good Dirt is a close second. I was quickly drawn into this and couldnt put it down.

I found this book to be super interesting and inspiring. I love the way the author told the story and connected us to the interesting lives of the characters. I’ll definitely be thinking about this story for a long, long time.

I abs0lutely loved this author's debut novel so was excited to get an advance copy of Good Dirt and it did not disappoint. This tells the multigenerational story of Ebby, who as a young girl suffered a terrible tragedy and then later in life she is dealing with a different loss after being essentially left at the altar. She flees to France to heal and escape..only to run into her ex fiance and his new girlfriend. From there we learn more of Ebby's story, past and future. Just like Black Cake, this a woman's story told thru multiple POVs and generations. It is moving, funny, touching and well written. Will definitely recommend this one.

This was another excellent book by Charmaine Wilkerson. Part of the book takes place in France where Ebby is trying to get away from being left at the altar by her fiance. Ebby has grown up in an affluent black family but her life has been touched by tragedy. When she was young her brother was killed during a home invasion. As we follow Ebby's story we also learn about a vase that was created by a slave and ancestor of their family. The book transports the reader in time to learn more about the vase and Ebby's ancestors from when her ancestor was captured in Africa to how the vase inspired their family's transformation today.

This was a story that flowed even though there were different view points and time periods. I was fully engaged the entire time as I was invested in Ebby's family and what really happened with Baz and the vase. I also thought it brought up important social issues that still need to be addressed. A wonderful story about survival and family that everyone would enjoy!

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

A sweeping, multi-generational novel exploring grief, memory, identity, and what it means to be African American in a country built on the oppression of our ancestors, Good Dirt is a poignant portrait of a Black family healing—and, more often than not, struggling to heal—from the seemingly senseless murder of a young family member.

Told in multiple timelines, ranging from Ebby Freeman, the victim's sister, to Moses, an enslaved man who crafted the centuries-old jar that has been a beacon of hope for generations of the Freeman family, this book truly pulled at my heartstrings but, ultimately, left me feeling hopeful and connected to the strong history of Black resistance, resilience, and community.

I will say, keeping up with the timelines, spanning hundreds of years but jumping back and forth and back (but to an even further back) again, could be a little tricky at first. Once I got used to this storytelling style, I personally really enjoyed it. There were places I think the perspectives could have been streamlined a bit, but overall, I found that the nonlinear timeline helped to convey both the wide range of sometimes conflicting emotions the characters were experiencing and act as a device to connect the experiences of enslaved people in the past to the experiences of the Freemans in the present.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois (one of my all-time favorite books!).

Big thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Ballantine Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review 🌟

I wanted to love this book as much as I loved Black Cake but I just didn’t. Each individual storyline was intriguing but it didn’t feel like they were brought together in the end as well as they could have been.

In a beautiful story that spans generations, Wilkerson introduces us to the Freemans, a prominent black family with a long and storied history. When Ebony "Ebby" Freeman is ten, she hears gunshots and finds her teenage brother on the floor, surrounded by shards of pottery from a stoneware jar that has been in her family for centuries. The family loses Baz and a huge piece of their family history that day. Due to their prominence, the story stays in the headlines and when Ebby's finance, Henry, leaves her at the altar many years later, the family reluctantly finds themselves in the media yet again.

Wilkerson gives us a story rich in lore and history, weaving stories of the jar and the Freeman ancestors into Ebby's own narrative. We learn about the role of enslaved people in the creation of pottery, coupled with storytelling and the power of passing on family history. Ebony escapes to France, a beautiful and atmospheric place, to lick her wounds, and look into her family history.

GOOD DIRT is both sad and hopeful, filled with past and present trauma, while still moving and inspiring. It illustrates how what comes before influences what comes next. The characters are well-drawn, with their own foibles and quirks. This is both a mystery, of sorts, as Ebby works out what happened to Baz and the jar, and touching character study of a fascinating family.

Charmaine Wilkerson is a splendid author. Black Cake is a favorite of mine. Good Dirt is its equal in beauty. The writing is so rich and filled not just with vivid characters but historical threads as well. I was deeply engrossed and emotionally invested…the ending , sad as I was to see this end, was profound. Well done !!