I don't recall where I first heard of this collection but I'm sure I was as much drawn to it by it's title as it's content. I have revered Thomas Jefferson for most of my life, even knowing that he was wrong to have been a slave owner. It's only in the past decade or so that I began to consider him and his legacy more closely. What might a descendant of Sally Hemings think about Jefferson's Monticello? I knew I wanted to read that story.

This collection is stunning and thought provoking and so terribly sad. Sad because it makes plain how difficult life has been being black in America but even more so because it paints such a terrifyingly realistic of a future America where it is even more difficult. Each of the short stories in the collection is written in an entirely unique style and every one of them has its strengths. The first, "Control Negro," is, as Roxane Gay says, "one hell of a story." In it a professor asks the question, "Given the right conditions, could America extend her promise of Life and Liberty to me too, to someone like me?" To find out, he needs a "control Negro" and so impregnates a young woman then supports his son from a distance, making sure that he has every advantage a young white man might. It's brilliant.

But as I read the collection, as I so often do when I read books by and about black Americans, I wondered if I'm the best person to judge such a collection. I can tell you that I'm wow'd by this collection, by Johnson's writing, and look forward to reading more by her. But does it speak to those whom she is writing about? To answer that, I turned to Gay, who has this to say about the collection:

"It is a rare breed of writer who can tell any kind of story and do so with exquisite deftness. Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is one such writer. Her debut collection, My Monticello, is comprised of six stories of astonishing range and each one explores what it means to live in a world that is at once home and not. She dissects the unbearable burdens of such displacement. The crowning glory of this collection is the title story, a novella about a world that has fallen apart and a small band of people who take refuge in Monticello, among the old ghosts of the former plantation, how they become family, and how they try to make a stand for their lives, for the world the way it once was. This collection is absolutely unforgettable and Johnson's prose soars to remarkable heights." - author Roxane Gay

Colin Grant, of The Guardian, has this to say:

Throughout the novel, there are echoes of the historical resistance of African Americans outnumbered and outgunned by foes, yet fighting back. As Da’Naisha’s band of walking wounded brothers and sisters prepare for one last stand, you fear the worst. My Monticello is a bleak story but reading it elicits the same kind of sensation that comes from listening to a poignant blues song: there is pleasure in its creation without denying the pain of the subject.

If you're a fan of short stories and you're prepared to be made uncomfortable, I can't recommend this collection highly enough.

This was a stellar collection. right out the gate "control negro" left me shocked and gripped me. Each story was so special giving insight to different people seeking home in unknown places. The immigrant widower, the woman creating a safe haven in anticipation of the apocalypse. My Monticello was the most interesting taking place in the future about the descendent of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings.

What an incredible debut. You honestly have to just read it to understand it, there is no good way to explain it.

Usually there are bits of collections that don't hit as hard as the others, but that is just not the case here. It is nonstop amazing from start to finish.

Also, kudos the the cover designer- it is amazing!

I will read anything Johnson puts out next.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy!

This book contains several short stories and a novella about racism. I'm probably going to be in the minority, I wasn't a fan of this particular book, but you can judge for yourself. I probably should have looked into it more before requesting it. It just wasn't for me, but that does not make it a bad book. I might try and see if my local library has an audiobook version i could try.

I received a copy of the book via netgalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review

Do you enjoy short stories?
My Monticello is a collection of stories centered on racism, concluding with a novella that gives the book its title. In that dystopian tale, a small group of people take refuge in Monticello when the world is falling apart. Together they face the ghosts of the plantation’s past as they take a stand and fight for their lives. The novella is so good that it has already been tapped by @netflix as a series.

I took my time with this, letting each story sink in on its own before moving in to the next. These are all thought provoking and unique, and the writing is incredible.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

I found this hard to review. It's a few short stories and a longer novella. The cadence was odd to me and it took me a really long time to read this - I kept abandoning it in favor of other books. The stories are all tied to racism and the Black experience, some more directly than others. I liked a couple of the short stories but most were forgettable. I found myself thinking that the novella should have been turned into a book, but after completing it, I'm not sure there was enough there to warrant an entire book. The writing is great but heavy, which probably contributed to my slow reading. I have to applaud the craft and the world-building, but I can't say that this was an enjoyable read. I would rate this 2.5 stars.

My Monticello written by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is a set of short stories and a novella. I will admit I was under the impression it was a historical fictional novel. Each story, unrelated to each other yet all related by race and racism. I found my self fascinated by the first one, Control Negro. And similarly the second one as well, Virginia Is Not Your Home. I want to know more about each of these. They feel unfinished with more to tell. The main novella and owner of the same title as the book felt as if it was a world where the underlying racism that exists were to take completely over again. The group of Black Virgianians find themselves escaping to Monticello to hide out and survive. I was fortunate to receive this copy from NetGalley. I am looking forward to future work by this author.

QUICK TAKE: not sure what I was expecting, but this book was AWESOME. a post-apocalyptic look at race, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is a fabulous writer and I was completely transported into each of the three novellas here, in particular the that the title refers to. Probably would have made my Top 20 had I read it earlier in the year.

This is a beautiful story collection that gets to the heart of race in America. The novella of My Monticello references a near future and what that could be if we remain on that current path. In many ways it is disturbing and heartbreaking but there is also an element of hope.

A thought provoking and timely collection of short stories. This is an excellent collection that weaves together narratives about the meaning of home. I’d recommend to anyone looking for a modern short story collection. I was provided an advanced copy for an honest review-many thanks!

Haunting and direct, this collection of short stories will keep you thinking long after you've finished.

This was a very interesting collection of short stories. My two favorites are the first one and of course My Monticello. I enjoyed the audiobook as well, the different narrators offered a very unique perspective on the story tellings. I recommend this moving and thought provoking collection!

Hmm, I think the fact that this was both short stories and a story that this didn't necessarily work for me.

I went into this thinking this would be more of story about monticello and have some historical elements but I think the short stories at the beginning threw me and I never really recovered.

I did enjoy Johnson's writing and am interested in reading some of her other work!

There is a lot of buzz about this book and rightfully so. It is timely and brave and is reflects perfectly the world in which we currently live. As a white woman I can not in any way relate to the prejudices that so many face, but I can listen, read and empathize, and the novella "My Monticello", certainly made me stop and think, as did all the writing in these pages.
I hope this one is nominated for many awards, so that it can be read and discussed by as many people as possible.

An outstanding debut, comprising a few impressive short stories and then the eponymous novella which is a stunner. With great economy and limpidity the author constructs a layered scenario of terror and survival with rich racial content. Special.

MY MONTICELLO is an incredible collection of short stories, anchored by a title novella. Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is certainly one to watch (please tell me there's more outstanding writing to come).

An excerpt: "I recognized him too, from the summer before this one, back when the world was bleeding internally but not yet broken open--at least not for me. There were a record number of wildfires last summer, but they'd been far away, on the other coast. There were heat waves and brownouts across the Midwest, and cascading government shutdowns. There was a national election girded by massive demonstrations--hundreds or thousands were killed or injured, they'd said on the news..."

That's from the title novella, which takes place in Charlottesville, Virginia where systems are failing and white supremacist mobs are invading. Cell phones don't work, there's no electricity, and white men have shown up to set homes on fire. Da'Naisha Love, her grandma, her boyfriend, and others flee in a shuttle bus and wind up at Monticello. Love had an internship there, and she and her grandma are ancestors of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. And now they've claimed Monticello, along with their neighbors.

The details in this debut are so thoughtfully constructed, and there are many sentences that sing. Johnson writes of racism and the climate crisis, but also of community and hope. Some stories felt stronger than others, but overall this is surely a 5-star, Colson-Whitehead-said-it's-badass-and-it-is collection.

This is a superb collection of short stories and a novella. Jocelyn Nicole Johnson has a lot to say about racism in contemporary America, and the characters in these stories will make you feel the weight of it in your body. "Control Negro" is the standout short story, and it's really well done. But it's the novella, "My Monticello," that I am sure I'll be thinking about in the days to come. Set in the near future, it's an all-too-realistic dystopian imagining of where this country could be headed. What would you do to protect yourself and your family after the government and the electrical grid collapse? Would you hunt or be hunted? Use the color of your skin to shield others from attack? The main characters in "My Monticello" take refuge in what was once Thomas Jefferson's home, and we soon find that a couple of them have a deep connection to the place and its former inhabitants.

I so wanted to read this book and be convinced of its greatest. But, I found the language difficult to follow. I did not finish it. I will not be submitting a review.

“My whole life, it seems, there’s been a revival of hatred and violence toward people who look like me. Waves of men have surged into our town from all over the state, the country.”

This is Charlottesville, VA in the somewhat near future. After severe thunderstorms rip out the electrical power grid, a violent white mob attacks a racially mixed neighborhood, forcing them to flee to safety.

But will they ever be safe? This is the premise of the title novella in My Monticello, a collection of five stories and one novella. In this powerful cautionary tale, Da’Naisha Hemings Love and her grandmother, who are descendants of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, flee with their neighbors and take refuge at Monticello. But where does this ancestry get them? While they all must work together to fight for survival, Da’Naisha has her own secrets and personal issues that must be dealt with. 

Each story explores societal issues such as race, gender, and culture in a very personal manner. Ginny tries to define herself and live her life according to her wishes instead of that of her parents and society in “Virginia Is Not Your Home". Can her anger and frustration be turned into positive change in order for her to start over?

In “Control Negro” a university professor fathers a son to a married student in order to conduct a study on how much an advantaged black male can achieve in society compared to an average American Caucasian male (ACM). But this study is at what cost to both him and his biological son?

A proud immigrant from Lagos refuses to let the school label his son, while also hiding the truth from his family that he was laid off from his job in “The King of Xandria”.

These stories include many layers and keep you thinking about them way after you finish each one.  Debut author Jocelyn Nicole Johnson writes with sharp, yet gorgeous prose in a vulnerable manner. I hope to read more from her in the future.

(The review has been posted on UnderratedReads)

Neatly packaged with a few previously published and pointed short stories, the eponymous novella is a major work of literature, pondering a fictive future firmly seated in a hypocritical past and reflecting clearly the horrors of our present day and the recent racist events in Charlottesville, Virginia. Moving forward while looking back, MY MONTICELLO should be required reading for all who care about this nation's future or revel in its past.