What a beautiful, gripping, raw, emotional tale Terah Shelton Harris gave us in "Long After We Are Gone."

When a father, King Solomon, passes away, his children come together to pay their respects and to decide what to do about the Kingdom. The Solomon siblings quickly find out that they are actually trying to save the Kingdom but, in order to do so, they must first save themselves from their own demons.

I adored reading this book even with the heart-wrenching way Terah described the battles - internally and externally - that each character must face. Some parts were hard to read but I think that was 100% intentional. The siblings showed us that figuring out life isn't always as easy as writing a check or as sweet as strawberry rolls and sometimes we have to get dirty to bury our past but we must keep moving forward, one step at a time.

I'm so thankful to have had the chance to read this book!

I will definitely be recommending it when friends are in the market for a deeper, emotional drama.

Brava, Terah! Thank you!

A story about one family’s legacy and fight to hold onto their Kingdom, formerly the Solomon plantation that their family once worked as slaves and now own. The patriarch drives the story but it’s his and his adult children, who are so different from one another, and their lives that are intertwined in the details and give the breath and flavor to the plot. Interesting and slippery laws that allow the rich to buy the land belonging to the poor out from under them and when so much is ‘stitched together by lies’ things start unraveling quickly. You’ll be rooting for the Solomons, both to keep their land, and to find themselves amidst the chaos.

This is a well written story that takes place in North Carolina. A family that has owned land for many generations is now facing losing that land their ancestors had purchased. After the death of their father, King, the siblings are informed that their land no longer belongs to them. The home that they grew up in is now sitting on someone else's land. While they are dealing with their father's death they are told to vacate their home. Each of King's children must put aside their personal issues and work together as a family.

The author does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life while also enlightening readers on the important issue of heir property. I was not aware of the laws and policies that allowed the property to be taken from families and was sadden to hear that there have been many cases where this has happened.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

This book was amazing. It was a little slow in the beginning but this family drama, redemption book was just what I needed to get out of my book slump!

The writing was like pure poetry. The characters were amazingly well written and we get all the siblings POV and it was quite the ride. Once I got going, I couldn't stop turning the pages.

This book had it all!

4.5 stars!! Thank you to @netgalley and @bookmarked for my gifted copy

Thank you to @NetGalley for letting me read the advanced ebook in exchange for my honest review.

The book was just alright to me. The premise of the book was emotional and heart breaking which was my expectation. However, it did not live up to her other books. I didnt like all the characters and the plot was alright. I will read hed books in the future. This book just was not my favorite.

The author masterfully unravels the intricate threads of family bonds, secrets and redemption. The prose is lyrical and raw with alternating viewpoints. It is all about family.
Many thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is the story of 4 siblings who come together after their father's unexpected death. They believe they are heirs to the Kingdom - a 200 acre parcel of land with their homestead which has been in the family for 200 years.
The book progresses via each dysfunctional sibling's point of view as they fight for their inheritance.
The book slowly reveals the secrets and lies they tell themselves and each other and the challenges they have within their lives.
Rather than focus on the order to vacate which has been given them, they gear up to fight the court battle to contest their house because it is "Heir Property" - property given to former enslaved people to homestead, which without signed deeds, can be taken from them involuntarily. At the same time, land developers are very interested in this undeveloped land. Among those interested in the property is their father's brother - who had previously bought 5 acres and wants to have more.
The book was filled with unlikable characters and I thought the author of this character driven novel delved too much into the challenges that each one had, rather than develop the plot and the fight for their property.
There was little plot development, in my opinion, and very little depth to their challenges , and very little happening in the story until the final 20% when the action really built up. I thought there were too many intimate sex scenes which neither advanced the plot nor enhanced the narrative. These factors lead me to rate this book 3.5 stars.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and the opinions given are my own.

I read Terah Shelton Harris's book One Summer in Savannah and really enjoyed it, so was excited for Long After We Are Gone. The new book is also very good. If you were a fan of the show Queen Sugar, run and grab this book. It's a emotional and explosive family story, with many flawed, but good-hearted characters. There are plenty of family secrets and reasons why the characters act the way they do. I learned quite a bit about heir property.

This book follows the story of four, somewhat estranged, siblings that come together after their father’s unexpected death to save The Kingdom. The Kingdom is a 200 acre piece of land that has been in their family for 200 year and passed down to the heirs of each generation that some may say is cursed. I loved the four different POV from each siblings with each of their lies and secrets coming to light as the story progresses. I had a hard time starting this book only because of life things on my end but once I was into it I didn’t want to put it down. This was my first book from this author but I have already put a hold on “One Summer in Savannah”.

I was so excited to read this book after loving the summer in savannnah. Harris has once again written an explosive and thought-provoking story with both likable and very unlikable characters.

Another DNF for me :( - I listened on audio and didn't love the narrators. I had a really difficult time trying to get into this one despite enjoying the author's debut and loving the hard of hearing/deaf disability rep. Perhaps a book better read in print or just not one for me at this time. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review an early digital copy.

this book was slow for me. this is my first book by this author, so it may just be their storytelling. it was good, but i feel like i needed it to really suck me in and that didn't happen. i did enjoy getting each pov from each of the children, and was impressed on how the author juggled them all and the book didn't ever become confusing. it read very smoothly and worked well. i also appreciated the themes that were represented in this storyline. the fact of their land being taken from them and sold and this being a common issue among African American families. it was terrible, but also eye opening for me as i did not realize that was a common occurrence.

Such flawed but real characters. I enjoyed every moment of this journey to healing for this family. Thank you for showing that family should be unconditional and accepting.

I love a good messy family drama and this novel has the mess. The family in the novel consists of 4 siblings: 2 brothers, 2 sisters. Their father dies unexpectedly and the siblings learn about family secrets. Some are past secrets and some are current. While the secrets are being exposed, greedy land developers are trying to get the family’s land through loopholes in heir property laws.

I read the author’s debut novel, One Summer in Savannah. There is progression in the author’s writing from the first to the second novel. In this novel, she artfully writes intimate and romantic scenes in this novel in a way that was not present in the first book. The foreshadowing of the secrets that would be revealed was top tier.

The set up for this story is phenomenal! I have added it to my MUST Read list of 2024 and even suggested it to family and friends who like to watch shows with family drama. If there is to be a show or movie in place I would not be surprised! This was truly a story to be reckoned with. There are many tropes that coincide with issues within the black community and I honestly can’t rave enough about how it is addressed here.

I love a good family saga. Long After We Are Gone starts with the death of King Solomon and his four adult children coming back together. Each of them has their own secrets and challenges that the others aren’t aware of and they quickly learn that their family home and the 200 acres it sits on are at risk of being taken by developers.

I really enjoyed learning the stories of the four different siblings and seeing how the story all came together. However at times I wish the author had trusted us to understand more subtlety - I felt like some situations and characters were really over exaggerated. I would have been more along for the ride if there was some more nuance at points. I really loved the last few lines and how it brought it all together.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

When King Solomon passed away, his last words are, "Don't let the white man take the house." As each of his four children return home with their own struggles and secrets, the difficulty of this request becomes apparent. Since the property has been passed on as heir property a legal loophole may mean they can't fulfill their Dad's last request! Each of the siblings is wrestling with some big issues and they have their reasons for fighting.
I enjoyed a lot about this book, the writing style, the multiple points of view, and what I learned about the issue of heir property. However, it lost stars for me because I wasn't able to root for the main characters. I understand needing flawed characters and trying to gain redemption... But i think it was too much. Some of the actions at the end were so out of character and without realistic consequences.
It was an interesting read, and had some major issues that need to be discussed, but I wish I had someone to root for. But, maybe that's what also made it realistic, there isn't always a hero in life.
This one was published earlier this month, so if it peaks your interest, go check it out!

Thank you to @netgalley for providing me with this ARC to read.
#NetGalley #LongAfterWeAreGone

This deeply immersive family drama unfolds in Diggs, NC, where the Solomon siblings – Junior, Mance, Cece, and Tokey – reunite following the death of their father, King. As they grapple with the uncertain fate of their ancestral home, the Kingdom in Diggs, questions linger about their family's tangled history. Secrets of power, money, abuse, and blackmail surface, shrouding each sibling in mystery. Amidst the turmoil, the siblings are bound by a shared past marked by unresolved questions: the disappearance of their mother, the missing deed to their land, the sudden departure of Uncle Shad, the enigma of Tokey's appearance, and the true reason behind Cece's return home. In a narrative rich with intrigue and familial complexities, Diggs emerges as a place where hidden truths converge, beckoning the siblings to confront their past and reclaim their legacy.

I went into this book with basically no knowledge of the subject matter and was very interested in it. It sounded like a story I would be able to submerse myself into at the same time learning about an important subject matter. However, the Solomon family didn’t really have any characters that you could find yourself rooting for. They have all made terrible life choices and are a a quartet of immature siblings so unlikeable it’s hard to have compassion for those choices. And while the base of the story “heir property” in black families was what could have stood out, it was drowned out by the awful people at the center of the story.
This was a story that could have been but missed the mark. I think I see what the author was trying to go for in making the characters down on their luck, and I think the story had potential because the subject is an important one, but by the time I got to the end I really didn’t care whether or not they were able to save the land. And that’s a shame.
Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for this eArc in exchange for my review.

For whatver reason this book is not what I thought it to be. I will be picking it up in the future but it is not gelling with me at the moment unfortunately.