Ours was an amazing book that exceeded my expectations. Magical realism and historical fiction are two genres that I do not reach for often, and I was more intimidated due to the length of the book. It follows Saint who helped emancipate the people living in the town of Ours. For me, there were a lot of characters to follow which was a bit challenging even though they did all add to the story there were points where I felt lost. The prose in the book was beautiful and I found myself highlighting a lot of passages, especially towards the end of the book. The last few chapters solidified it as a four-star read for me, if it was a bit shorter I would've reviewed it higher.

Ours is an expansive novel, covering over four decades in the South, tracking the course of a protected community outside of St. Louis. Over the close to 600 pages, the reader is introduced to Saint, a conjurer who travels across plantations in the South, rescuing the enslaved, and bringing death and destruction upon the owners. She brings the individuals she freed to a town she is calling Ours, which, with protective spells, is truly hidden from the outside world. She envisions being able to protect Ours' residents from the hate and violence of the outside world. But what happens with cracks begin to appear with her protection? And is the closed-off Ours just another sort of prison to the residents?

This is a sweeping novel- many characters are introduced, including Joy who has killed her violent father, and after being discovered flees to Ours with Frances, someone who has a mysterious background similar to Saint. Relationships and friendships develop with unexpected pairs. Because of the magical elements, Ours may resonant with readers who enjoyed Jesmyn Ward's Let us Descend and Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Water Dancer. For me, I appreciated that the book kept revealing insight on characters up until the end, but the shear length of it made it a bit of a slog.

Thank you to Penguin Group Viking via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

This won't be for everyone- it might not be for you-but those with patience will find themselves falling under its spell. It's an unusual and lyrical tale centered around a woman- Saint- who freed enslaved people by killing white people with conjuring and then created a community. A closed community meant to support and nurture but one which is firmly under her control. There are many characters and the time lines move around but the stories are indelible. They're also poignant. This is long (perhaps too long) and it does slow in spots but the language is always gorgeous. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A worthy read.

I am most-likely DNF-ing this at 30%; it's possible I'll return to it, but I doubt it. I had a hard time getting into this story, found it confusing, didn't understand the magic(?) and got lost in the characters. There are a lot of people with strange names, a lot of different places mentioned and storylines to follow, and I just really struggled.

Aba, a previously enslaved man, has traveled Arkansas with a woman called Saint as she systematically massacred plantation owners and overseers to free slaves and guide them to a place of safety called “Ours,” near St. Louis, where they can live freely: a place hidden from the white population that no one uninvited can find, even when it appears on a map. But what of the aftermath of being beaten, starved, raped and whipped? Saint’s conjure stones offer protection from outsiders, but can they safeguard the Ouhmey, who live in Ours, from the horrors of their past? The Ouhmey trust Saint’s supernatural powers, but when an unexpected death occurs and she does nothing to prevent it, a chain of unstoppable events is set in motion. Saint’s motives are called into question as the Ouhmey begin to fear and avoid her.

Williams’ ambitious novel is a powerful blend of realism and mysticism, unfolding over forty years, with supernatural elements weaving seamlessly through history before, during and after the Civil War. At once complex, poetic, visceral and melancholy, the novel muses on the nature of freedom and the lasting impact of slavery. What does true freedom look like in light of the necessity for Saint’s protection?

Ours is a measured read, demanding patience and, reaching the end, I couldn’t help feeling I wanted to start again to truly make sense of all the connections. Although sometimes overwhelmed by my scant knowledge of African mythology, hoodoo, root work, and ancestral spirits, I was deep inside this story. Saint is not the lone protagonist, as Williams’ many extraordinary characters leap from these pages, with their oddities and charm and bizarreness, focusing readers’ attention on the importance of acceptance of human uniqueness. Ours is a triumph, rich with revelations bubbling to the surface long after the last page turns.

OK, January 25, and I've found my first Best Book of 2024: Phillip B. Williams' Ours. No matter what else comes out this year, Ours is not getting knocked off my list.

This is a long book that makes demands of its readers. But the effort one puts in reading Ours is repaid over and over by all the book has to give. Some reviews don't like the length, but I take the author at his word when he explains that part of the book's length reflected a commitment to portraying many characters with care and thoroughness, unlike books that clearly have "A List" and "B List" characters (my way of putting it). Yes, some characters get more "page time" than others, but if I had to list the characters essential to this book, I couldn't get that list below 10, and would rather leave it at 15, maybe more.

To offer a very short description of the book's content, I'll just explain that Ours begins before the Civil War and ends after it. Saint, a woman gifted in particular kinds of conjuring, travels the south, "listening" for those who want to be freed. When she finds them, she uses her powers to kill the "so-called masters" (Williams' term) and leads the now-free to a town west of St. Louis that she's founded and has protected with boundary markers that prevent outsiders from entering. (I single Saint out because she sets the novel's events in motion, not because she stands above the book's other characters.)

That town is named Ours. Some of the town's residents have powers of their own. Some don't. And none of them completely control the powers they do have. Time and memory lengthen and contract repeatedly. Loving relationships bloom in a wealth of forms, across genders and across life experiences. And failures to love, intended to protect, complicate the interactions of characters.

One of the reviews of this novel notes that because of its complexity, Ours makes an excellent candidate for a group read. The richness and depth of its offerings deserve attention and discussion beyond the individual. I had an electronic review copy of Ours (my thanks to the publisher and NetGalley) and because I read it pre-publication, I didn't read it as part of a group, but I want to reread it in that context once it's released.

Through serendipity, I read Ours at the same time that I read [book:Walking with Our Ancestors: Contemplation and Activism|196390075] by Barbara A. Holmes, which is both kin to and very different from Ours. At just 68 pages, it's roughly 1/9th Ours' length. Walking with Our Ancestors examines events and individuals from the Civil Rights Movement through the the lens of contemplative practice, which the author doesn't see as being unique to Christianity. If you're at all inclined to think about questions of spiritual practice and its furtherance of real-world change, I urge you to do the same. The pairing resonates in wonderful ways.

Even if you don't want to commit to a group read or a two-book pairing, read Ours. Have faith that Williams will have you turning things over in heart and mind long after you finish the book.

I had such high hopes. The first several pages started off so well. I was so hype and then quickly got muddled by a bunch of characters, separate stories, timelines, and seemingly unnecessary details.

Too much going on for my taste and attention span. While curious, I wasn’t intrigued enough to want to delve into 592 pages of potential fluff with no clear purpose or plot progression. A book with that many pages…I need the author to make me feel every page is worth it. That wasn’t the case for me.

Maybe I should’ve given it more time? But when the boredom hit and I started skimming, that’s when I knew. Nah, let me not waste my time. Life really is too short to force yourself through stories you’re not feeling.

OURS very well could be an amazing story, but I wasn’t sticking around to find out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced eARC.

This is a story of slavery and freedom. The way that it was written is absolutely mesmerizing. It takes place in a town called Ours; a place where freed slaves were taken by the woman who freed them. Using the idea of conjure and other mysticism the story of the inhabitants of this place, near St. Louis, is sometimes tragic and sometimes joyful, as the people learn to live as free human beings, with the dignity and respect that is their due. I absolutely loved this novel and couldn't put it down once I started reading it. I highly recommend it.

"Ours" by Phillip B. Williams is a literary feat, full of lush prose and intricate characterizations. The novel starts by introducing readers to Saint, a formidable conjuror in the 1830s, whose mission to liberate enslaved individuals and establish the haven of Ours. Williams' writing is a tapestry of vivid imagery, weaving together Black surrealism, mythology, and spirituality, enriching the narrative with a distinct and evocative atmosphere.

The characters within Ours are complex and nuanced, each contributing to the multifaceted exploration of love, freedom, and the inherent challenges in maintaining both. The novel's strength lies in its rich portrayal of Saint's experiment, a secluded community that faces internal and external threats. That being said, the plot's intricacies in the first part of the book did require some patience; as Saint's memories and conjuring unfold, the story occasionally treads a convoluted path. Yet, the payoff in the latter half justifies the initial complexity, culminating in a thought-provoking exploration of the delicate balance between safety and freedom.

"Ours" is complex and heavily nuanced. A combination of the mystical realism of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and "The Rules of Magic" by Alice Hoffman. The prose is beautiful and I found myself underlining passage after passage that I found truly moving, touching or just well written and quickly every page was marked or noted upon.
And while I loved this story I desperately feel that this book needs to be read with others and not as a solitary endeavor. I needed reflection and discussion to grasp all the subtleties. At times I would find myself overwhelmed and would close the book and not return for a week or more. Never in a hurry to return yet it lingered in my mind. When I would return to "Ours" I found myself readily absorbed back into the story and eager to continue.

Many thanks to @vikingbooks @netgalley and #PhillipBWilliams for this advanced copy of the book!
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My Review: Imagine, during the early 1800s, freed slaves had a community where they could live and thrive together after experiencing years of hardships. That’s what Saint, the main female character, envisioned and led. However, events throughout this community’s existence put into question whether these freed people would have been better off outside of this community. Many intrusions occur that Saint and the other inhabitants have to navigate. This story started very interesting to me, but my interest faded midpoint. Several reasons happened. There were so many characters and moving parts to the story, not to mention changing timelines, all of which confused me and made me somewhat bored. I kept reading, and I had perked back up by chapter 27 of 29. Chapter 27 was poignant and so relative to what we experience, it seems, every decade in this country. The writing style, while hard to navigate, had a poetry-like quality that intrigued me. In my opinion, this book was a little too long and drawn out, without any of the middle parts being particularly exciting to not make it seem so long. While I had a bit of a hard time with this book, I still recommend it for people to read and decipher. There were some things to consider as an African American woman and seeing Saint’s evolution throughout the story.

This intense novel is set in 19th century Arkansas and Missouri, in a town called Ours inhabited by formerly enslaved Africans who were freed and brought there by a woman called Saint. Many residents, like Saint, possess supernatural powers. Thank you Net Galley for providing me with the opportunity to read this prior to its publication.

The first half of the book introduces its characters, their powers and the complications their powers cause. The boundaries between life and death fluctuate as the town’s residents struggle to heal from their traumatic pasts.

The second half of the book accelerates the plot and deepens the characters’ relationships and their quests for healing. Among the author’s many gifts is his use of lush language to weave descriptions of the natural world with the inner lives of Saint and others.

I especially loved how some of the characters used nonverbal means to communicate, and how certain others learned to understand languages without words. There are many paths to healing in and around Ours, and I admired the author’s generosity and respect for their varied choices.

The slow world building and convoluted plot in the first half of the book were challenging for me, but the second half was great and showcases the author’s talents.

Phillip B. Williams masterfully orchestrates language, narrative, characterization, and brilliance, infusing them into the very essence of "Ours." The story ostensibly revolves around the inhabitants of Ours, a town just north of St. Louis, founded in 1832 by the town's emancipator, Saint, for a population of formerly enslaved individuals. Over the next four decades, the novel unfolds the tales of their lives, loves, and the evolving, strained relationship between Saint and the town's residents. However, "Ours" transcends mere storytelling; in the hands of this skilled writer, it becomes a tapestry woven with threads of ancient magic, colonialist occupation, and modern resistance, pulsating with life so vividly that the reader feels immersed alongside the characters.

While rooted in the era of slavery, this novel is firmly grounded in the myriad possibilities and complexities of freedom. Phillip B. Williams avoids seeking simplistic answers, consistently elevating the exploration of his themes, resulting in emotionally charged passages and prose that soars with grace and power.

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

just outside of saint louis, there is a town called ours. established in the 1800s by a woman named saint, she intended it to be a safe haven for black folks. there was no white influence in ours, for saint eradicated it. she used her magic to protect enslaved and free black people alike.

this novel is about strong, powerful black women and men. saint's ferocity and her taste for killing those who are oppressors (or aid the oppressors) is admirable. as someone who was born and raised in saint louis, i felt incredibly moved by this novel. it's emotional, it's bloody, but the love the residents of ours have for each other is unmatched. this is peak black feminine rage, and i'm here for it.

although the ending is a bit bleak, i can't help but hate lambert airport now. this novel is just a touch too long, but it absolutely worth the read.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

A book of powerful women and men navigating a world men have made not only through enslavement, but prostitution and survival meted out through Black bodies, especially those of Black women.

Ours is a place sanctioned away from a world of enslavement of Blacks. Saint has made it her business to dispatch white owners and their system and develops a reputation like that of a ghost who delivers Blacks to a promised land of sorts where Whites can’t reach them and is protected by conjured spells held down by stones. Still the Ouhmey have to live with themselves, their past lives and loves and Saint. Escaping white folks isn’t the end all after all.. Saint slaughters not only whites who would enslave Black folks but those Black folks who have bought into the system of bondage.

The woman Saint has created the town of Ours out of the necessity of violence to create a space where Black folks can see themselves beyond the white gaze. See themselves is key here. There is a lot of twinning going on the novel with doubling of women more than the males but it is there. The doubling is spoken of as something from the African paradigm as powerful and can destroy as much as build up a people. Twins in some African cultures are like sacred. Amongst the Yoruba, they are celebrated. Amongst there west African counterparts the Igbo they are are a bad omen . Common denominator is they represent power of life doubling itself and reflecting upon itself and culture. Everybody in power doesn't want you to be self aware; it creates people like Saint who might be a saint or a monster depending on who is looking. Saint meets her twin force in Joy who has also known the violence of killing in the mulatto prostitution system of New Orleans..

Ours is a tale of what it means for a people to isolate themselves, but still have to face the reality of where they came from and build up their own humanity. The problem is the past must be faced. In Ours the past in just as much reincarnation, the present, and the wonders of other worlds and ways of being. These are distinct non-European and Christian ways of seeing the self in the world.

Still, the world finds a way to invade Ours and the world Saint had built up bringing death and the revelation that time is not set in history, but consciousness. African ways of the blood are not lost in enslavement and time jumps forward to see the worlds yet to come of their descendants.

As with all things Ours falls to “progress” with ax men, roads, new buildings and such and the stones that once set the conjure boundaries of Ours are powerless with Saint gone. The cohesion of the people of Ours “lives as they had always lived" is lost. It’s a anti climatic ending to me to see an incredible mystical history reduced to the repetitive dregs of American history for Black folks as we now know. It’s like something has been lost from the creation of Ours, it’s heyday, and it’s final defeat to the progress that is a forgetting demanded by the system to advance, succeed and be rich. Maybe that anti-climatic ending is the way the author intended. I don't know. In my good opinion and that's all it is, I wondered if the author should have stopped at the invasion or the stretch of consciousness into the future. Or the author sees the present age void of the power and skill of conjure and the story loses its conjure on the page. How much have Black folks surrendered in the sprint to be "equal" in America when we were beyond such simple identifiers. Ours is a good read but left me puzzled at some spaces toward the end. Was there a speculative novel progression that should have come afterwards. Wishful thinking? Ours hurts. Even more Ours hurt my feelings at the end. I'm a mystic, intuitive Pisces and we're allowed such sensitivities sensing the residue of conjure on the page.