Long After We Are Gone is the story of the Solomon family, who have resided in the town of Diggs, North Carolina for many years and family generations. King Solomon, a carpenter/woodworker and father of four has passed away, bringing all four adult children back the family land, called The Kingdom, to say goodbye and make arrangements for how they will handle the land. Each sibling has their own serious life issues going on, creating much drama, and old family secrets are revealed as well. As the siblings come together to fight for the Kingdom, they find themselves learning to live and love all over again.

I really wanted to enjoy this book but the four POV, one from each of the four siblings this book is centered around, felt disparate. There did not seem to be enough cross over or interaction between them to make a singular story and on top of that, they were rather unlikeable, or lacked depth, or both. I DNF'd at 72% which I only pushed myself to because I felt obligated to really try and finish since this was an ARC. I was also not expecting nearly every character to have significant romances resulting in some fairly steamy scenes. That isn't necessarily a reason to like or dislike the book, of course, but few of them seemed to really add to the underlying story.

At the end of the day, I think this book was simply not for me. I will share that the moment I knew a DNF was inevitable was when the youngest sibling began to draw comparisons between her parents relationship (viewed through personal letters) and the relationship one of her siblings was having. 1) She did not seem to have any "ick" regarding reading about her mom getting hot for her dad and 2) her character was so shallow (she had a food addiction) she couldn't even relate it to herself but instead had to reach for the relationship she perceived her sibling to be having. I made it a good bit past that, but I knew that was it for me.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the digital ARC I received of this book.

I absolutely adored One Summer in Savannah, so I was really excited for Long After We Are Gone. While I didn't find it as compelling as One Summer, it was still an engaging read and I really appreciated learning about the complexities and inequities of land ownership.

While each sibling had their standout moments, I found Junior's story overall the most compelling and emotional for me. I enjoyed watching him grow and battle his inner demons and insecurities and finally accept who he is. I also loved Ellis, his character stood out the most and was the most likable. I found the conclusion of Tokey's story to be the least satisfying, there were some scenes/behaviours where I actively disliked the character(s) and I still had a few questions by the end but it didn't really hinder my enjoyment.

Overall, this story didn't touch me as much as One Summer, however, it is still a worthy read.

Thank you to NG and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and Sourcebooks Publishing for providing an early copy of Long After We Are Gone by Terah Shelton Harris

Author Terah Shelton Harris has created a dark, meaningful and ultimately redemptive account of estranged siblings raised in small town Diggs, North Carolina as they struggle to accept each other and work together to save their land named The Kingdom.

When their strong and revered father, King Solomon, (a name that may have readers drawing comparisons to the Biblical ruler) dies without leaving a will, his children must seek the advice of local attorney and long-time friend, Ellis, Notice has been given that the Solomon family must vacate the premises within two weeks as the property has been sold through the actions of an uncle. This leads to a multitude of personal realizations such as sexual identity drama, embezzlement, jail time and an eating disorder that the siblings must share with each other in their quest to unite and save the land. Added to this is their ignorance regarding the death of their mother which unfolds from an unexpected source.

Within this framework is a love story that attempts to rekindle amidst all of the chaos, hardship and negative feelings brought on by circumstances the Solomon heirs never expected. The author's writing is such a strength as Junior, Mance, Cecily and Tokey evolve and move toward a common goal.

Tereh Shelton Harris has included an Author's Note at the beginning of the book which offers readers background information on the "heir property" rules of North Carolina and eloquently hints of the personal and public conflicts to come.

Long After We Are Gone is an important read as it never deviates from the many emotions that bring flawed characters to new realizations of family.

Ebook/Women's Fiction: This book was more powerful than the author's first book.
It was like a sexier, more diabolic episode of Dallas. The character I liked the most was Tokey because I'm on a diet and I was enjoying her binges vicariously.
On to more serious stuff, the book hits a lot of social issues that the Ms Harris addresses in author's notes. It can be a hard book to read at times. There is a parallel between losing power because of gender, losing power via mental health, and losing power because of race.
As a disclaimer, I got this ARC from Netgalley for an honest review and I have met the author several times.

the Solomons have lived at the kingdom in north Carolina for years, when their father dies, they return to fight for their land and home.

King Soloman—owner of 200 acres of choice North Carolina land- while dying utters his last words” don’t let the white man take the land”.
And so we meet his four children, each one of which is struggling with his own secrets and problems, and their attempt to carry out his wishes. Each child and their respective problems (violence, theft, hidden homosexuality, an eating disorder, are carefully drawn and well depicted, and I’m sure every reader will have his favorite. In addition the legal concept of heir property, apparently still a major problem among black families in the south, is well explained and plays a key role in the book. A good-very good read- with quite a dramatic ending.

I really enjoyed this family story that focussed on healing and not repeating generational traumas. It is a modern voice and the characters resonated

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review is also posted on Goodreads. Man, kicking February off with a bang!

Powerful. Emotional. Impactful. This story pulls you in instantly into an intricate and intense story of four siblings and their family's history.

The Solomon family has lived at The Kingdom for hundreds of years; when the patriarch of their family dies unexpectedly, the 4 Solomon siblings are met with a harsh reality. King Solomon had no will, and their uncle has sold part of the land to a development company. They are at risk of losing the Kingdom due to heir property laws.

Each chapter is split into four POV's, following each sibling as their navigate the legal and personal battles they face after their father's death. Junior is coming to terms with who he is, Mance is terrified of failing the love of his life and newborn son again, CeCe is deep into legal trouble and is being blackmailed, and Tokey is struggling with taking care of herself and feeling like she has a place in the world.

Over the span of a few weeks, the Solomon siblings world as they know it begins to collapse and reconstruct. The one thing they learn? Let it be.

The family drama, deep family history, and found family themes in this book were captivating. The writing is phenomenal and takes you fully into each siblings story. This is one I'll be recommending to everyone and thinking about for a long time.

It pains me to give this book a solitary star because I absolutely adored one Summer in Savannah. I was so impressed with the sensitive and interesting introduction and the premise, that I went into the story with high hopes. This book, however, felt like it was written by a completely different author.

As opposed to the author's debut novel, which was creative and had amazing characters, this book was hugely disappointing. The Solomon family is not only a train wreck, but an exaggerated train wreck; a quartet of selfish, oversexed, immature siblings who are so unlikable, it is difficult to have any compassion for them. They have all made extremely poor life decisions that serve only their most base desires. And, while the subject of "heir property" in Black families is a fascinating one, it was eclipsed by the terrible people at the center of it.

This was an opportunity missed, in my opinion, because the subject is an important one and the story had so much potential. But how can we feel the gravity of the family's predicament if we have no one to root for? The answer is: we can't. By the time the land was in jeopardy, I didn't care if they lost it or not.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley.
This book focuses on one Black family in the aftermath of their father's death. Their land has been passed down via heir property with no wills since the beginning. A big development company is now coming after their land. The four grown children each have their own views on the land and what should or can be done with it. We get to see the story from each of their POV. This book has some graphic scenes of sexual extortion. I wish I would've liked it more, but most of the siblings weren't very likable in their humanness and what they have done to survive. It touches on some important themes both in American History and how far our country still needs to go to make things better for all.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy of this book by an author I so enjoy! This book is my favorite kind of genre..complex family relationships with well crafted, detailed characters and complicated relationships. We meet the family after the passing of The King..the patriach of a large family of 4 siblings.who grew up in a place they lovingly call The Kingdom. Each of the siblings come back to town after his death with their own set of issues and struggles, and each of their stories is so beautifully detailed and interesting. What I also loved was the author's forward, giving readers a "trigger" warning about some of the issues addressed in the book, like eating disorders, etc. The author really wants her readers to have a great experience with these characters. This is a touching, unique family drama that I definitely recommend.

This book was absolutely phenomenal!! I adored the characters, the story, the back and forth. It was romantic, heartbreaking, beautiful! I loved the way the author told this story and the lessons I learned along the way.

"While we are influenced by our parents and the ones who come before us, we are ultimately responsible for the people we become." - Tera Shelton Harris

this was such a beautiful and devastating read. it centers around the responsibilities, weights, and complications that come with family, love, loss, and grief. four siblings try to navigate their personal problems and the consequences of poor choices while dealing the aftermath of their father's passing. each sibling has their own heavy complexities and have to come together after years of not being under the same roof. each sibling goes through a difficult journey of self-realization and acceptance of who they are, while also coming together to break intergenerational trauma.

Ellis was the most well-rounded character in this entire book. he's that sound of reason and anchor for the siblings. i think this book and its characters would have taken a different turn without him. but something he says to CeCe resonated with me in ways i cannot put into words:

"You accept what you've done. You sit with it and in it. You live with it, all the pain, all the hurt, all the guilt. Until it's done with you. Until you are done with it. You survive it."

i loved this book. it is so well-written that i felt like i was watching a movie play out. every character was relatable in so many ways that i couldn't help but feel for them... like i wanted to reach into the pages and hug them or yell at them or help guide them, but despite their flaws... you loved them.

this will be such a great book for book clubs or buddy reading, more so if you read it with a sibling or family member. it will open up so many important conversations. i have no doubts it will be something i will look back to in the future, because it holds so many beautiful and important messages.

thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. i received this book as an ARC and leave this review voluntarily.

"Don't let the white man take the house."
They are King's words before he dies, leaving four siblings to fight off a bank claiming they own part of the nearly 200 acres of land in North Carolina. This is not the first book I have read that address heir land ownership this year, it's a hot topic when speaking about African Americans in terms of equity, reparations and our sordid American history. When a person dies without a will, the ownership of land and objects move on to the heirs. This can create a large-scale problem if two brothers, for instance, marry and have children (who have children) creating more and more heirs. It is fairly easy for a large wealthy person/company to seduce one of the heirs into selling their portion which can lead to what can only be compared to as a hostile takeover.

In Long After We Are Gone we watch as siblings scamper to address this takeover of their land following the death of their beloved Patriarch. It's an amazing story on it's own, but Shelton Harris adds 4 incredibly interesting characters for us to follow - There is Junior, the oldest and secretly in love with another man. Mance, who fights his own temper and loses frequently, CeCe, the first daughter who has backed herself into a corner in her work in NYC and Tokey a woman who has succumbed to her own demons and overeats excessively. The four unlikely heroes are brought together and forced to face their childhood, their current obstacles and make peace with each other. I was enthralled by this story and am still thinking about it days after. Shelton Harris has an amazing talent of putting you in the place, and you should grab this book!
#sourcebooks #sourcebookslandmark #longafterwearegone #terahsheltonharris

Long After We Are Gone was such a beautifully written book with deeply flawed characters. I cannot do the book justice by just saying it was good. It was magnificent. But it was also so very, very hard to read. I’m glad there was an Author’s Note that provided trigger warnings. Even though I’m not someone who needs the warnings, parts of the book were still so hard for me to read. I loved how we were able to get the POVs of the 4 siblings. These POVs were necessary to being able to understand why they were the way they were, and why they made the decisions they made. There were difficulties in reading each of siblings’ stories. CeCe was extremely narcissistic and dramatic; Junior was living for others and didn’t love himself; Mance had clear anger issues; and Tokey felt unloved and worthless. Tokey was the hardest character for me to read. I have never read a story of someone who had an eating disorder or was an overeater. I was uncomfortable with the parts where she gorged herself.

In my opinion, the siblings were terrible people who were so deeply flawed and self-centered that they didn't think of anyone but themselves. The only redeemable character in the book was Ellis. Ellis loved the entire Solomon family like is own and was more loyal to their father and the land than any of the siblings.

Overall, the storyline flowed very well, and each sibling got an equal amount of time in the book. I’m glad that there wasn’t a perfect ending, and it ended as it should have.

This novel has a standard theme… father dies, children all come together to continue and contribute. It begins oddly, with a narrator like a Greek play announcing events. I felt it was intrusive. After several chapters the narrator was less present and the story unfolded. Family disfuncti9n and secrets seem to be a popular topic for novelists and perhaps that is why I felt this book was not original. The family is Black and that added to the plot because of the historical interest of their land and home. I cannot recommend it but it was not a bad read.

Thanks to NetGalley, and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read Long After We Are Gone by Terah Shelton Harris. What an amazing book this is. And an important one.

Soulful

This was quite the saga, so I took my time with it. I read it in small chunks so that I could savor it. This wasn’t a light read. It required me to sit with my own emotions and failures. The characters were all so damaged, but not broken. That made them feel relatable. By the end of the story, it even made them feel lovable. This was a powerful story of honoring our ancestors and their traditions. It was an emotional look at mending a family that had unraveled.

The writing was excellent. It was so vivid and descriptive. The author did a great job with the character development. She made their flaws feel authentic. She made me want to hug them at times and shake them at other times. I absolutely adored Ellis from beginning to end. He was such a pillar of strength and stability in the midst of so much chaos. Junior grew on me after he learned to love himself. I cheered for him when he finally decided to fight back. By the end of the book, I had become fond of each of the siblings. I was rooting for them and they didn’t disappoint me.

This was such a robust story. It really pulled at my heartstrings. I gave it a four star rating simply because I wanted a better explanation on a few things. The children not having any information on their long lost mother didn’t work for me. The rest of the book was a success. Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Terah Shelton Harris for this advanced copy to review.

With this book, Terah Harris disproves the "Sophmore slump" publishing theory. One Summer in Savannah was an incredible debut, and Long After We Are Gone is even better. I have not read a book with such complex characters in a long time. This is a story of a family that has been holding each other at arm's length for years through secrets and lies. When the patriarch of the family passes away, the loyalty that the siblings have for him, for the family estate, and for each other pulls them back together again. Terah Harris weaves the thread of each character's backstory into a beautiful pattern. The reader is discovering just how beautiful these relationships are right along with the characters themselves. This is not a story about perfect people, but of a family that has to work at being vulnerable enough with each other that they can heal the fractures in their past. Highly recommend!