Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for this advance copy in exchange for a honest review.

WOW! Another hit by Wanda M Morris. I was rooting for Deena the entire story. I wanted her to get to the bottom of the mystery! What a great mystery/thriller that ties in some real life themes like corruption, displacement and gentrification. Can't wait to read more from this author.

Deena is like many middle-aged women who have to reinvent themselves after a divorce. In her case, she ends up back at home with her father and his new bride.

Not only is she healing from divorce, she is also dealing with her mother's death and the loss of her job in Atlanta.

As the story begins, you learn something is amiss in Brunswick. Soon, you join a bumpy ride as Deena uncovers hidden truths and a plot to exploit some of the most vulnerable in her area.

Overall, this was an engaging story that tackles an important issue in our world - illegal land grabs and property redevelopment in poor and rural communities.

This is the first title I've read by Wanda Morris and I can see it won't be the last.

I have some of the worst sleep habits ever. And there are just some authors that make it worse, but in a good way ( as a matter of fact, I'll probably be taking a nap by the time you read this). I went to sleep around 3:30 this morning, and could only get a few hours in before i couldn’t sleep anymore, because of these characters. I could not rest until I knew what happened to the characters. (Now mind you, I was at 80% when I tried to our the book down). This book was absolutely such a ride. It also covers a topic that happens a lot in minority community, and especially black ones. Although she didn't originally know it, Deena was destined for this assignment and was not alone. Not only did she have her family’s help, but she was unknowingly guided by the ancestors. And it makes me want to know more about the Gullah region. I've read many good books this year, and so far this one tops all of them. I have yet to read a book by this author that I not only enjoyed, but gleaned some unknown information to me. It was brilliantly executed and I loved and enjoyed every minute of this ride.

I loved this book!! What an absolutely captivating thriller this is! Deena Woods is a lawyer whose life has been in a downward spiral. She has lost her mother, her job, her home, and her marriage to a cheating spouse. She returns to her childhood hometown, looking for a new beginning. As she adjusts to life in her girlhood bedroom, with her loving father and his new wife, and a job that barely utilizes her skills as a lawyer, she takes a wrong turn on rural road and finds herself confronted by a man who thinks she wants to steal his home. When he disappears a few days later, Deena is determined to discover what happened to him, and finds herself in the midst of web of fraud, deceit and murderous intentions. Wanda Morris has created a marvelously complex plot and characters that drew me in from beginning to end! She touches on many current social issues, including the little-known heir's property law that still persists today in much of our country. I was completely blown away by the ramifications of this law. The incorporation of the Geechee people and the haunting history of the Igbo people added much to the story, as did the beautiful, mystical Interstitial sections of the book. While this is a quite exciting and mysterious thriller, it also is a book with love and hope, and new beginnings that will long live in my memory. A huge thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book. The opinions of my review are my own.

I have read Wanda’s past books and really enjoyed them. This book had a great mystery but also some paranormal content that I was not expecting. This book is also the second new release for this summer that focused on the heir property law.

There is a little romance thrown in that gives the main character more depth. There are some unreliable side characters that will keep you guessing to the end. There are strong themes around grief as well.

Wanda also brings in the Gullah-Geechee culture from coastal Georgia throughout the book with customs and language.

If you are looking for a story about greed and manipulation with a touch of romance, grief and the paranormal, then this book is for you.

I enjoyed hearing from Wanda and learning about her writing process and inspiration for this book. If you like having a playlist for the book, she has one on her website.

I read this book as part of @thoughtsfromapage’s Early Reads program. Thanks to @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for providing the ARC.

#WhatYouLeaveBehind #WandaMorris #williammorrowbooks

This is a story of a forlorn woman who returns to her roots after her life "falls apart".

I was intrigued by the Geechee people and what they would bring to help her heal, but unfortunately, this was only the subtext of the story. I wanted this to be more forward in the storyline.

This was a good, solid mystery, but I feel like it could have been so much more. I really loved the main character, but the story fell a little flat for me after the climax. I needed to know more at the end that was left hanging, maybe intentionally for a sequel, but really did not feel like a great way to end.

Morris is a great author and no denying I will read more by her. I had some higher hopes for this after reading All Her Little Secrets.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for trusting me with What You Leave Behind. While Ms. Morris is a new author for me, I was immediately drawn to this book since it is about the South.

What You Leave Behind begins with the main character, Deena, returning home to Brunswick, Georgia following a difficult series of events. Deena has lost her job as a lawyer in Atlanta, she is getting a divorce and her mother has died. She is trying to start her life over in a new job but is quickly pulled into a situation where people of color are dying/missing and their property is being sold. The police do not seem overly interested in investigating the deaths or missing persons. Deena sets out to investigate.

The book brings to light a real issue known as heirs property where property passes from generation to generation without legal ownership. This results in ownership being divided among several living descendants. This is a recipe for disaster for the family and an opportunity for developers to acquire the property cheaply. I really appreciate Ms. Morris bringing this issue forward.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. The story and the characters were rich and kept me engaged. The only part of the book I struggled with were the supernatural aspects. Those parts were not for me.

I look forward to other books by this author.

Book Review - What You Leave Behind by Wanda M. Morris

Deanna’s life is all going as she had planned. She left her hometown to chase her dreams and things are going well for her. She is happily married and still remains close to her parents. Her dream of becoming a lawyer has finally materialized and she lands a job at a prestigious Atlanta law firm. She then is assigned a case that will have life-altering effects on her heart, mind, and soul.

Everything in Deanna’s world changes in what seems like an instant, but is over the course of a few months. Deanna’s mother is facing a life-threatening illness. As she struggles to deal with her mom’s rapidly declining health, the biggest case in her career so far seems to be falling apart. After her mother’s passing, Deanna struggles to hold herself together, and that is when her husband decides to end the marriage. The plot moves from Atlanta to Brunswick, Georgia when Deanna is forced to move back into her childhood home with her father and his new wife. Deanna resents Roo, his new wife, and doesn’t understand how her father could have remarried so quickly after only 6 months of her mother’s death. In order to cope with her tedious new job and stressful living situation, she takes a ride to clear her head and finds herself in front of an oceanfront property, where she is met with a very angry older man who chases her off his property with a warning that he “will never sell this land, no matter how many people they send.” This one chance encounter both terrifies, yet intrigues Deanna, and as the days pass she finds herself with more and more questions about the man’s words. She returns to the property with the intention of trying to find out more information but the man and his trailer are gone and there is a sign that the property is up for sale.

Convinced that something is very wrong and that people in her community are at risk of losing their lifetime family homes, Deanna launches herself into an investigation to get at the truth, but there are a lot of people who will do anything to keep her from uncovering the truth. This is a well-written novel which does a nice job highlighting the struggles of those living in the coveted rural communities of which so many redevelopment companies are in search. There were times in which I felt like the story could have moved at a faster pace, but as the storyline moved along, I realized that the author intentionally included more detail in an effort to highlight the plights of the Gullah Geechee community in the south.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Wanda M. Morris, and William Morrow Paperbacks for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was heart breaking and suspenseful. This is the second book I have read this year about heirs property. It was something I had never heard of before this year. It’s another insidious way to steal land. Highly recommend reading this book for not just the entertainment but the education.

In "What You Leave Behind" by Wanda M. Morris, I found myself deeply immersed in a poignant journey of love, loss, and the enduring power of forgiveness. Morris crafts a narrative that resonates with authenticity, portraying the complexities of human relationships with remarkable depth and sensitivity. As the protagonist navigates the aftermath of tragedy, I was moved by the raw emotion and profound insights woven throughout the story. With its richly drawn characters and evocative prose, "What You Leave Behind" is a beautifully rendered exploration of redemption and the resilience of the human spirit. Morris's heartfelt storytelling left a lasting impression on me, reminding me of the importance of embracing life's joys and sorrows alike.

This book is so well written. The characters and the plot line were so well developed. I loved the setting and the vibes as well. However, I unfortunately couldn’t connect with the storyline itself. I couldn’t find it in myself to care about what was going on and why it was happening. I didn’t understand Deena’s motives. I will definitely try another book by this author because I loved the writing a lot.

The writing was slow in the beginning but the pace picked up pretty quickly and settled into a wonderful clip. I really enjoyed the incorporation of Gulla Geeche people and learning about their traditions and beliefs through Deena and her family. Deena did not give a damn about her own personal safety and while that irked me at times it really kept the action moving! The book did a great job of highlighting the nefarious and blatantly criminal parts of our law - that are entire legal! - that prey upon those without the resources to combat it.
The familial aspect of the story was really well done. It’s acknowledgment that parents are people who’ve lived lives before they have children was really great and I loved that they weren’t flat characters just floating around the main character as she tackled this mystery.

This was very reminiscent of other books where the “White Evil” trope is at play. Think “When No One is Watching” by Alyssa Cole or “The Other Black Girl” by Zakiya Delila Harris and “What Never Happened” by Rachel Howzell Hall. They all place White people as the perpetrator of many things negative on black people. I’m becoming a bit bored of this trope. However, what saved this for me is that Morris diversified the pool. It wasn’t only black people being affected and it wasn’t only white people perpetrating. It made this a more dynamic read.

After her mother dies and her marriage falls apart shortly afterwards, Deena is forced to return to her childhood home in Brunswick Georgia. Home doesn’t quite feel like home since her father has remarried her mom’s best friend. She finds herself taking a drive to clear her head and stumbles upon an old widower who mistakes her for a realtor trying to steal his land. Deena begins looking into the man’s claims and realizes something insidious is happening in her hometown.

Wanda M. Morris weaves together history and suspense in such a unique way. Her characterizations are excellent. I was rooting for Deena, she was incredibly relatable as she rebuilt her life after the death of her mother. The story starts off a little on the slower side but it really ramps up halfway through and becomes unputdownable (my favorite bookish word)!

INTERVIEW: Stay tuned for my #AuthorElevatorSeries Chat with Wanda, where we go behind the scenes of WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND and this award-winning author (June 19).

Bestselling author Wanda Morris returns following Anywhere You Run and All Her Little Secrets with her latest topical and powerful thriller, WHAT YOU LEAVE BEHIND.

The mysterious disappearance of a local landowner sparks a tenacious lawyer on a quest for justice and uncovers a deadly mystery that could ruin her coastal hometown. A conspiracy going back years in this moving multi-generational story of family, legalities, rights, heirs' property, community, grief, and injustices.

Deena Wood, a lawyer grappling with profound personal upheavals, including the loss of her mother, her marriage, and her esteemed position at an Atlanta law firm, seeks solace in her childhood home in coastal Brunswick, Georgia, and the loving Geechee people. On top of this, she is forced to deal with the woman her father married six months after the death of her mother.

However, she encounters some disturbing events when she stumbles upon the oceanfront property of a loner widower who has been fighting to keep the multi-generational land in the family since the end of the Civil War. He thinks she is a realtor or works for a developer and threatens her with leaving his land and not returning. Shortly thereafter, he goes missing, and his property is quickly put up for sale.

Deena thinks something is suspicious and starts digging into the history, discovering that their family legacy is part of the conspiracy. A deadly game of illegally taking over land and property redevelopment, especially in the poor and rural communities.

Deena soon becomes immersed in this nightmare—a scheme threatening her community and family. How are these events connected? She must do what it takes to stop innocent people from losing their land and their family's legacies.

WHAT YOU LEAVE BEHIND is an essential and powerful book and a hot topic of today about heirs' property, which targets the blacks, poor, rural, urban, and other areas. From manslaughter, fraud, greed, and a desire for wealth had come at the cost of lives and destruction of the community.

Wanda beautifully writes of the Gullah-Geechee community, located in Georgia's low country. This community is rich in culture and threatened by developers trying to use their heirs' property to scoop up land. The land is valuable; some families have handed it down for years. It is now being snatched away by greedy developers who want to turn it into resort properties and more.

I enjoy how the author writes about important and timely issues and themes that make you think and how we can participate and be a part of the solution and its legalities, as she mentions.

Inspiring, thought-provoking, and rich in history, with a cast of well-developed characters that will linger long after the book ends. I also enjoyed how the author sprinkled "Interstitial" sections and letters from the mother to Deena were spellbinding. The journey of the main character and her road to self-discovery was empowering, discovering she was stronger than she knew.

"Grief is love, repackaged in longings and despair. But after the emptiness of it all wears off, the love remains."

Please read the Afterword, which explains the inspiration behind the novel and the resources available. Heirs' property refers to a home or land that passes from generation to generation without a legally designated owner. Historically, an unstable form of ownership has made it easy for developers to acquire the property. When multiple people own the land, they can convince just one heir to sell their fractional share of the property and force a court-ordered partition sale of the entire property even if the other owners are against it.

HEIRS' PROPERTY: It is also imperative to know that when a person owns property with an unclear title, it is difficult to secure mortgages and loans to make improvements, thereby limiting the family's ability to build generational wealth. Some of these folks are rich in land but cash-poor. Some of these folks need access to tax and estate planning services, but there are non-profit organizations that can assist them.

Meticulously researched, the author tackles difficult topics and the fallout for real people and our communities. This topic is essential and timely, fascinating, and needs more awareness. I am delighted to see authors addressing it in their fiction and nonfiction books and how families are affected.

“This powerful, haunting topical novel combines the best of Southern, Gothic, legal, mystery, suspense, historical, family drama, crime thriller, literary, paranormal elements, and more... A MUST-READ!”

WHAT YOU LEAVE BEHIND, and all the author's books are highly recommended.

If you enjoyed WHAT YOU LEAVE BEHIND, I highly recommend reading John Grisham's Camino Ghosts, Terah Shelton Harris' Long After We Are Gone, and Brea Baker's Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership (all 2024). These four books also feature and highlight heirs' property.

Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for a digital advanced reading copy for an honest review. #CoverCrush

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: June 18, 2024
June 2024 Must-Read Books
June Featured #AuthorElevatorSeries

US pub date: 6/18/24
Genre: suspense/mystery
Quick summary: Deena leaves behind her life as a lawyer in Atlanta for a fresh start at home in coastal Georgia. But all is not well in her hometown - a mysterious company is buying up property from the longtime residents, and Deena is determined to find out how and why.

This is the third of what I'm calling "social justice-themed suspense novels" from Morris, and if you haven't read one yet, you should catch up! I loved how Deena put her personal struggles aside to fight for her town, trying to keep her fellow residents in their houses despite the attempted land grabs. There's a really strong sense of place here - both in the descriptions of the landscape and the spirits who help guide Deena. This story hooked me, and the twists at the end were so good! If you're headed to the beach and looking for a book with a bit more depth than the typical beach read, definitely try this one!

Thank you to William Morrow and @thoughtsfromapage podcast for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This talented author has written a novel of intrigue and mystery. The setting is almost a character. The realistic characters keep the story moving quickly. I like this author. Enjoy the journey of this book. Thanks Netgalley.

Thank you to William Morrow Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC.
Deena is a non-practicing lawyer, she has been through a divorce and a job loss, as well as the death of her mother. She becomes aware of people being forced off of their property, namely Holcomb, who is killed for his lucrative island land. The premise is interesting, even though Deena is not. There is a love story line, but it falls flat and doesn't bring anything to the narrative. I am rating 2.5 stars rounded up to 3, just because this was boring. It is a great premise, but the execution doesn't live up to the potential. It definitely made me think about how poor people can be "land rich" and be manipulated by equity firms who get them to sell their land insanely cheap. In the story, of course it is dramatic and includes murder, but in the real world, this is still something to consider. The rich get richer.

Wanda Morris became an auto read/buy author after her amazing book Anywhere You Run came out in 2022. What You Leave Behind was a strong thriller with just a hint of spiritual and supernatural elements that I loved and felt added to the atmosphere and suspense of the novel. There was some great tension that continued to build as Deena’s story unraveled, and Morris was great at teasing that suspense out and helping it last for the reader. I never felt bored or disinterested in where the story was going, and I honestly can’t say that for all thrillers.

If you saw someone in trouble, would you step up to help them, even if it put your life at risk?
From what I've heard, the hero stats are not good, for obvious reasons.
But Deena Wood is an exception.
After a random visit to a place that was special to her mom, Deena encounters a man who tries to warn her away. While it takes Deena and the reader to understand the big picture, this story centers on real estate and the lengths bad people will go to obtain it - essentially stealing property from heirs. However, they have found loopholes to make it all very legal. Does it make it right, though?

Although I think Deena took entirely too many risks, especially when her and her family's lives are threatened, she seems to be the only one paying attention to what is going down in her community. Eventually she convinces several other people to help her. Are they really on her side? Sometimes I had to wonder. With the turn of events, someone is clearly lying to her. But who?

I was surprised when the full truth came out and how deep the corruption ran. It is amazing what greed will drive one to do unspeakable things.

Overall, this was a carefully crafted thriller, and I enjoyed how the pieces came together, ultimately providing closure. Deena took huge risks and became the true hero her community needed.

📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 “Perhaps that’s the way life is. You don’t just deal with one bad thing at a time. Life throws a stream of adversities at you with no break in between. Ma used to call it a season.” Wanda Morris very eloquently shares the sentiment of when it rains, it pours. She beautifully illustrates the spectrum of human emotions in her newest novel, What You Leave Behind. The book is vividly descriptive and so alluring that her writing draws the reader in from the very beginning. When Deena returns to her low country home after losing her mother and a divorce, life seems much slower but strange things begin to happen that make her question what could be lurking around this quiet town. A brilliant statement on the impact we leave, the legacy we create, and an homage to generations before. This thrilling mystery is written with so much heart and balanced with a gripping plot that will land this as a top read for this summer!


5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review is posted on Goodreads and final review will be on Instagram ahead of the publication date.