This is one of those rare perfect collections and had more of that slightly off-kilter vibe I was looking for from The Souvenir Museum.

There is a reason Roxane Gay picked "Control Negro" as an entry for the Best Short Stories 2018. It reads like the great works of gothic fiction, reminding me of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror or Frankenstein: The 1818 Text tonally. "Buying a House Ahead of the Apocalypse" is also phenomenal and reminded me of How to Make Love to a Physicist (my favorite entry from The Secret Lives of Church Ladies).

The titular novella is also wonderful. Tonally perfect and serves as an important entry into the modern discourse of dystopias/post-apocalyptic fiction as White people placed into the lived experience of people of color.

Excellent.

If you're Black and know the story of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, you've probably wondered about that episode in history, and given some consideration to what may have become of her descendants. She was 14-years-old and Jefferson, one of the so-called founding fathers was 41 when he is believed to have first taken notice of her. She went on to bear him, I believe it was five children, the first having been born when she was only 16. Most of her children, once freed, left the Commonwealth of Virginia never to return. This book is about the stain and legacy of Thomas Jefferson in the blood of his Black descendants, and the ways in which the world has changed, and the ways it has stayed the same since he took a young Black girl, Sally Hemings to his bed, without repercussion, because she was his "property", gifted to his wife as her personal maid (who was also incidentally her sister).

It was hard to read this book, comprised of five shorts and a novella, without feeling enraged. But the writing was so good, it was also impossible to put down. In the first short, 'Control Negro' a university professor who, despite living an exemplary and respectable life finds himself compared to an ape by one of his students, decides to conduct an experiment, making his own son a living example of Black excellence. His thesis is that, despite this, his son will never be exempt from the dangers and prejudices visited on Black people of lesser excellence, and never benefit from the same things bestowed undeservingly on mediocre white men.

Others that stayed with me are the short, 'Virginia is Not Your Home' wherein a young woman named after the state she works hard to escape, finds that despite herself, she carries it with her no matter how far and wide she may go. In another, an immigrant father forced into a different kind of servitude than the enslaved who came to America involuntarily, struggles to maintain his dignity through his only son. And in the novella 'My Monticello' for which the book is named, unrest reaches Charlottesville, not unlike the actual unrest we saw in 2017. In this version of events, referred to as 'the Unravelling', a descendant of Hemings and Jefferson flees with her ailing grandmother and a motley crew of their neighbors, seeking refuge in, of all places, Monticello, where at one time Thomas Jefferson owned several hundred enslaved.

The conflict I felt is the same one I always feel when I read debuts like this from Black writers. On the one hand, I think, 'how many other voices like this are there, which we may never hear because of a still white dominated, one-note publishing industry?' And yet, how wonderful that we get to hear this voice? This one is highly recommended.

Audiobook note: I got both the audiobook and galley from NetGalley and was blown away by the narrators. Particularly exciting was hearing LeVar Burton read 'Control Negro'. Pulled me in immediately and made my emotional investment in reading or listening to the rest of the book a certainty.

3.5
My Monticello is a collection of short stories and a novella. The writing is engaging, informative, and powerful.

I really loved the first story Control Negro, but unfortunately felt slightly let down by the rest. It's not that I didn't like them, I just didn't like them as much, and it felt that the collection peaked too soon. I am also coming to understand that short stories may just not be for me.

This book has gotten a lot of well deserved praise and I understand why. My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is out now.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com or https://www.instagram.com/manoflabook/


My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is a collection of stories, one in particular follows a young woman, descendant of Thomas Jefferson, driven from her Virginia neighborhood by a white militia. Ms. Johnson is a short story writer; this is her first novel.

A descendant of Sally Hemmings and Thomas Jefferson has been drive away from her neighborhood in Charlottesville, VA by a white militia. The young lady, along with others, find shelter in Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home.

One thing is clear after reading My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson – the author is certainly a very competent story teller. The book is basically composed of several short stories, with similar themes of a world fallen apart.

Monticello is, unquestionably, one of our family’s favorite places to visit. We live too far away to go often, but when we’re in the area we surely manage to stop by. In addition, Charlottesville is a wonderful city to visit. The last time we’ve been there was three weeks before the embarrassing American Nazi march. We were obviously saddened to watch as to what that beautiful city became.

I don’t know if the author had that embarrassing moment in American history in mind when she wrote that book. For me, however, is what I immediately thought of, a world going up in flames.

Not the whole world mind you, but what does it matter when it’s your world that’s burning?

I enjoyed the symbolism of the titled story. What Monticello, and Thomas Jefferson by extension, represented then, and now. Much like Jefferson himself, the hypocrisy of life in Virginia for Da’Naisha, the story’s protagonist, is shocking. The beautiful house on a hill, was Jefferson’s legacy and his undoing. For the refugees it’s a shelter from a white mob. For the white mob it’s a symbol which they can’ t let the refugees own.

On the surface, the book is a little thin. However, it is thought provoking especially if one pays attention to what’s going on in the world. Every country is moving to the right, some to pre-World War II levels. The rhetoric is even similar, and we don’t even realize it.

A haunting book. I requested it for background reading for an editorial feature we will be running on BookBrowse shortly (timing has already been sent to the publicist).

Links to review and our "beyond the book" article are:

Review:
https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/reviews/index.cfm/ref/2c277952/my-monticello#reviews
Beyond the Book:
https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/btb/index.cfm/ref/2c277952/my-monticello#btb

I wish I had read this earlier in order to nominate it for Library Reads. I never read short stories but for some reason I had this on my to read list. So when I had an opportunity to read an egalley I hadn't remembered that detail and had no expectations.. If all short story collections were like this I might read them more often. Usually they feel unfinished to me. Well each of these stories felt whole and yet let me wanting more, just like any good novel does. Her writing is absolutely astonishing. With lots of books released in October do NOT miss this one.

The title novella in My Monticello, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson’s debut collection of short fiction, is set in a dystopian future that mirrors the crises of our own day. Following a summer of wildfires, extreme heatwaves, and “a national election girded by massive demonstrations,” narrator Da’Naisha Hemings Love explains, the East Coast is hit with “great and terrible storms” that disrupt transportation, take down the power grid, and cause mobile phones to go “glitchy and dark in our palms.” “It was unclear if we were under siege,” she says, “or whether the world was toppling under its own needless weight.”

At this moment of chaos, white supremacists pour into Charlottesville, VA. Men drive through neighborhoods, setting fire to the homes where Da’Naisha and her Black and brown family and neighbors live. Together with a married white couple and Da’Naisha’s white college boyfriend Knox, they flee and take refuge at Monticello, the historic home of Thomas Jefferson.

Da’Naisha is a descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, Jefferson’s “darker but not very dark never-wife,” whose six children were all fathered by the man who held her in bondage. The refugees fleeing from violent white supremacists establish a settlement in the home their ancestors built. The plot is one of the novella’s greatest strengths—through it, Johnson examines climate change and racism, as well as interracial relationships and alliances.

Although unexplained in the novella, Da’Naisha’s last name is, just as much as her middle name, an historical allusion—to Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 Supreme Court case in which laws banning interracial marriage were ruled unconstitutional. Interracial relationships between Black men and white women are at the heart of Johnson’s novella, from the Jefferson-Hemings case up through the Black protagonist’s romance with Knox. Although Da’Naisha questions the future of her own relationship, she eventually reveals to Knox that she is pregnant. Johnson’s heroine is thus allowed to become the matriarch of her own story, even in the midst of crisis.

The title novella is by far the most compelling piece in Johnson’s collection...

Read complete review forthcoming in the Harvard Review

Jocelyn Nicole Johnson’s MY MONTICELLO is a revelation.

“A young woman descended from Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings driven from her neighborhood by a white militia. A university professor studying racism by conducting a secret social experiment on his own son. A single mother desperate to buy her first home even as the world hurtles toward catastrophe. Each fighting to survive in America.”

These are some of the characters in the novellas that form the masterpiece that is MY MONTICELLO.

Wildly inventive in structure and heart piercing with her prose, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson has delivered a collection of stories I found wholly consuming. Her name will, no doubt, be among the greats like Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou.

I started by listening to the audiobook and then I re-read her words in print because I wanted to savor them once more.

The narration on the audiobook was just unparalleled. I cannot emphasize enough how enhanced that listening experience was by the precision and performances of the various narrators which include Aja Naomi King; January LaVoy; Landon Woodson; LeVar Burton; Ngozi Anyanwu; Tomiwa Edun. An embarrassment of riches, this audiobook was the audio equivalent of seeing a Broadway play.

A cultural requisite, you simply must read!

Publication Date: October 5th, 2021

Thank you to @netgalley @Macmillan.Audio and @HenryHolt for the ARC and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

#MyMonticello #NetGalley #books #bookstagram #literaryfiction #bookclubreads #bookclub #booklover #reading #ilovebooks #currentlyreading #bookreview #book #bookstagrammer #audiobooks

An excellent and compelling collection. The true star here is the titular novella. I was not expecting the level of suspense within this novella, I couldn't turn the pages quickly enough. In addition to being utterly compulsive this is rife for discussion and examination. A great examination of history, modern society, and current conflict. A timely and important read.

This is a collection of 5 unrelated short stories and a novella. While I liked all of them, I thought the standout was the first, “Control Negro” a sharp satire that made me cry. Written in the form of a letter from a Black college professor to his son, this story describes the father’s efforts to invisibly direct the development of his son to see whether a flawless Black boy could ever be treated in this society like average American Caucasian males. “What does it matter how much I achieve, or how clearly I speak, or how carefully I conduct myself, if the brutal misjudgments remain regardless?” “I saw you, son, turning and wild — free, even — for a moment at least.” In the audiobook, this story was narrated by LeVar Burton. He was wonderful and really should be getting more acting jobs or at least narrating more.

I also liked “Virginia is Not Your Home”, narrated by January LaVoy. In rapid glimpses, this traces the life of the protagonist who is trying to escape her heritage. “You’ll look hard and wonder how the time passed so swiftly, how your mark on the world remains so shallow.”

The novella is “My Monticello”. Following the Upheaval, a sketchily described conflagration of environmental disasters and civil unrest, marauding bands of armed White Supremacists are violently attempting to clear the country of what they view as trash. A group of neighbors flee to Monticello and hide out there for a few weeks. Two of them are descendants of Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Heming (who was also his wife’s sister, but that’s another story). “I kept real life in one place, and the imagined life of my ancestors in another unexamined place, like a room with no windows. Now my real life flailed and smoked behind me.” I thought that this novella sort of hammered you over the head with its point and felt repetitive. It would have benefited either by being more succinct like the short stories or expanding to add more background to the Unraveling. However, I would definitely read this author again. 4.5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

This was a unique and profound collection. Each story was wholly original and unlike anything I had read before.

The short stories that started the collection were quite interesting and moving. I enjoyed some more than others but they each made me think and were well presented. Each story dealt with a different issue such as gender discrimination or poverty but they all had the common theme of racism. Most of the stories actually read like prose and I could envision the words flowing over me at a poetry slam.

My favorite story was the title work - My Monticello. It was significantly longer than the others but also dealt primarily with the issue of race. The story takes place in the not so distant future and presents a world divided. Power has been cut, government has been destroyed, and Black people are being targeted. A group of neighbors flee to Jefferson’s Estate when their homes are targeted and the group try to survive and restore order in the face of evil.

This was a powerful collection. It’s one to be read slowly and each story is to be considered on its own merits. This would be a great collection to read with a group and discuss.

Thank you to Henry Holt and NetGalley for a copy of this work.

Seeking Protection on a Plantation and other Racist Ironies


I want to meet Jocelyn Nicole Johnson. I’ve reviewed books for years and never have I been shocked and jealous of someone’s brilliant composition and organization of historical details.

As a lover of short stories, finding that this type of literature is the most difficult to write and control, this author has written more than a razor-sharp debut.

There are short stories leading up to the novella, reflected in the title of this book. Each story surrounded itself with security, lack of security and racism. The first original concept, ‘Control Negro,” is narrated by a black man, a professor, who uses his son, whom he has never met, to study how the equivalent of an American Caucasian Male (ACM) could rise above racism. This one story is part of the author’s setup, and it is worth it.

I think the book was inspired by the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally; you know where there were “good people are both sides.” However, this time the black and brown residents are attempting to find shelter on Thomas Jefferson’s homestead, Monticello. The main character and narrator is Da’Naisha, is a direct descendant of Sally Hemings and Jefferson. Racial violence has not disappeared, however. There are many studies packed into this book: policing, organized racism and other facets of functional establishments.

She is a confident writer who has crafted a masterpiece

My gratitude to NetGalley and Henry Holt for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

Magnificent. Belonging and yet not belonging - race and family and fear and strength are all tenets of this exceptional collection of short stories. I’m blown away. Get this one. Get a few so that you can gift to others. I rarely reread books but will definitely reread this one to catch things I know I missed. Packed with meaning with gorgeous writing - I’ll read whatever Ms Johnson writes. Heartfelt thanks to Henry Holt and Co for the generous gift of this book. I’m grateful.

I dont know what I expected from this book. It feels like essays not a novel to me. I could barely get thru the first chapter without skimming. I just dont feel it was the right book for me. I think I was expecting historical fiction. It just missed the mark for me and my interests entirely. Nothing against the author.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for this complimentary arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is a collection of novellas with the self titled story centered on a young black woman descended from Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings driven from her home with her neighbors by a white militia. Each of the stories showcases the black experience and just how diverse it can be. A college professor examining the impacts of race on a single subject, a well traveled mom now making ends meet in her home town, school kids acting out. Each story is so unique and really showcases Johnson’s amazing ability to draw you into her storytelling.

My Monticello - 3.75⭐ (really enjoyed)

Thank you Henry Holt and Netgalley for the eARC and LibroFM for the gifted ALC. All opinions are my own.

Quick synopsis- This collection of five short stories and a novella focuses on stories relating to race, home, and belonging.

Like all short story collections, I had a few favorites and a few that were just okay with me. That's the great thing with short stories - there's bound to be a story that everyone can connect to. The novella gave me When No One is Watching vibes, mixed with Leave the World Behind, and was excellent. All stories were thought provoking, and in a few cases, a little disturbing.

I also supplemented this on audio, and the narrators/performers were incredible (especially looking at you, LeVar Burton!)

Full review to come on bookstagram.

I must not have read the description very carefully, because I went in expecting this to be a novel. Instead, it was a short story collection culminating in the eponymous novella, My Monticello. My Monticello is set in an all-too-realistic apocalyptic future where the energy grid and all society’s institutions have collapsed. Outside Charlottesville, a young Black woman, Da’Naisha, alongside her boyfriend and neighbors, are driven from their burning homes by white supremacists to Monticello, the historic plantation home of Thomas Jefferson, where they seek refuge, reckon with historical legacy, and fight to survive. The story borrows the tropes of post-apocalyptic survival stories to deliver incisive social commentary.

My Monticello was an excellent, very worthwhile read, but to my surprise, I actually enjoyed the preceding short stories even more.

One reason I really connected to this collection is that each story is set in Virginia, the state where I grew up. I went through years of public school curriculum glorifying Virginia’s historical importance in the founding and development of the United States. And yet, slavery and its consequences were a mere footnote, excused and avoided. Johnson sketches a series of characters who each reckon with being born and raised Black in Virginia.

In “Control Negro,” a Black male social scientist intent on proving to himself, his peers, and society (through very unethical means), that a young Black boy raised with every material advantage available to the white boys who fill his college classroom will defy all their racist assumptions and escape the traps that oppress Black men. Ultimately, this story is a tragic explanation of systemic racism and a brutal reminder that no amount of adherence to “respectability” can save Black lives. Systems demand dismantling, not circumventing.

In, “Virginia Is Not Your Home,” Virginia, the main character, tries desperately to shake off her name, and with it, her connection to the place of her birth.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for giving me advance access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the best books I've read all year. Every single story was phenomenal and made me think about this country is ways I've before. The first and last story truly left me breathless. I'll be recommending this to anyone that will listen to me.

This book is packed with non stop thought provoking content. I am not usually one for short stories but each story felt full and complete. There have been times where I read short stories and I’m like, “that’s it?”

I’m not a typical short story reader. The writing was tremendous here. Thank devoured all of them quickly. Virginia left me breathless.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.