A really interesting example of how communal suffering can create a particular wisdom and integrity among a group of people. Sad, troubling, and yet hopeful, I thought this was a really good and important read.

(I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

The WPA slave narratives aimed to capture the stories of prior slaves and were undertaken in the 1930s. In this book, Holmes masterfully weaves stories from the WPA slave narratives with the story of a Black girl who grows into a woman and then a matriarch through the years of slavery up to the 1930s.

I loved how Holmes grounded the WPA narratives in a larger story that made you want to keep reading and gave a place for each of the WPA narratives to shine. Having many WPA narratives referenced throughout each chapter really helped the reader understand the atrocities that occurred by reading about them from many different narratives. Reading about the lived experiences of these prior slaves was not easy, but important and I definitely want to read more of these narratives now.

Why isn't everyone talking about this book? Yonder Come Day tells the story of many through the story of one, and Holmes absolutely pulls it off. This was thoroughly researched, heartbreaking, and important.

I really enjoyed this book, can see myself revisiting it, and would highly recommend it to almost anyone.

From the jump – literally the first sentence of the Introduction – I was completely sucked in. I was so grateful for the peek behind the curtain Holmes gives us to her process for researching and creating this story. The introduction alone would be a worthwhile reason to check this book out.

Holmes expertly weaves together primary sources (included as excerpts throughout the book), something she refers to as Collective Memory (a summary of some of those primary source excerpts in narrative form) and moments from the life of Little Bit (a character Holmes has created to serve as the anchor for the book as time progresses). Honestly I felt like I was reading a beautifully crafted historical fiction novel that had its references seamlessly built into the book. It’s these references that give the story the weight it deserves; as a reader you’re directly confronted with the reality that the fiction is built on top of – you cannot look away.

Description
As our nation has experienced a renewal of reckoning with the reality of slavery in our past and the continued struggle for equality and liberation in the present, many previously untold stories have come to light. But not every story. Some histories remain shrouded, waiting for someone to uncover them and make them known. Incredibly, some of them have been hiding in plain sight for decades.

Yonder Come Day brings these hidden histories into the light in an unconventional yet powerful way. Drawing from the recorded interviews of more than 3,000 formerly enslaved people from across the South collected in the 1930s, Jasmine L. Holmes creates a compelling "collective memoir" unlike anything you've read. The story follows Little One, a composite character who guides the modern-day reader through the experience of slavery. As she grows from Little Bit to Lonely One to Lovely One to Grandmama, she exposes both harsh truths and an irrepressible spirit, helping us better understand the love, resilience, and faithfulness necessary to survive the evils of our nation's original sin.

Teachers, historians, and anyone doing the work of reconciliation will find that Yonder Come Day is the vital resource they didn't even know they were missing.

My Take:
This is a unique case where the description does the heavy lifting for the reviewer. Therefore, I can assure you that the reader will receive exactly what is promised. Additionally, I recommend this book to individuals who may enter communities with the intent of extracting data. It explores how their biases and identities influence the data collected. It also examines how one can engage with communities empathetically and attentively, rather than merely advancing their own agendas. This book probes these issues, fostering dialogue and opening avenues for transformation. It is a valuable addition to syllabi that cover data collection methodologies and more.