Torah Shelton Harris tells an interesting story of the effect of heir inheritance on land ownership in North Carolina. The King family has lived on a former plantation and overseen 200 acres surrounding the house since the Civil War ended. When the patriarch dies, an entity steps forward to claim 5 acres of the land, including the land under the house. Investigation reveals that King’s brother Shep, who has been estranged from the family, sold the land to get back at his brother. The family comes to a logical, if drastic, solution to resolve the issue that will open up myriad lines of discussion for interested book clubs. Personal issues going on in the lives of King’s four children add layers to the story that are also ripe for discussion and give readers pause for thought about how they might respond in such a situation..

What a beautiful book. Terah Shelton Harris handles deep, complex topics with a graceful hand. The story follows four siblings, which can sometimes lead to slow or boring parts of the story. But that never happened! Every sibling was interesting, and I was never anxious for one sibling’s part of the story to be over and to move onto another one.

Heir property is something I knew nothing about and I appreciated getting to learn about it in a fiction setting. The only drawback for me was that I found parts of the mother’s storyline hard to believe because people in small towns talk. A lot. I won’t say more because of spoilers, but all in all, a great read!

Interesting story about the acceptance of self, past and present. At the end of the day, it's a process we all go through. The story has a paranormal feel to it as the past is so much a part of the siblings lives that it carries it's own narrative in a sense. The ending was something I did not expect and the better part of the whole book IMO. This is one of those books you definitely will want to discuss as it goes freaky and what the heck as it concludes.

Long After We Are Gone is a riveting read. There are echoes of Faulkner in this tale of four siblings tasked with preserving the land their family has worked for two hundred years against the greed of developers and their own conflicting desires. It is impossible to read the novel without empathizing with Junior, Manse, CeCe, and Tokey as they deal with the death of their father King, the perfidy of their Uncle Shad, and the ramifications of 'heir' property law. The real-life implications of the legal hurdles many Black families must jump to keep the land that belongs to them add to the relevance of the book.

Terah Shelton Harris has crafted a must-read novel. Her skillful handling of four viewpoints allows the reader to laugh, cry, admonish, and cheer for each sibling as they confront their precarious situations and struggle to conquer the obstacles they face. It was no stretch to imagine this book as a play or a movie, one which I would gladly attend. I strongly recommend you read this one!

I feel that this book by Terah Shelton Harris was expertly crafted. It's my first read of hers, but after reading Long After We Are Gone, I definitely want to pick up One Summer in Savannah.

So many explosive topics are dealt with in this novel - lies, secrets, family relationships and drama, the judicial system, prejudice, crime, death, homophobia, and sexual manipulation. Throw all of those together in Harris' fictional, Southern town of Diggs, North Carolina, and you've got a formula for a successful novel.

The four siblings, who are basically estranged even though three of them still live in the same town, are brought together in the beginning of the novel for the unexpected death of their sixty-three year old father, King. The Solomon family has always resided on a 200 acre tract of land once referred to as the old Solomon Plantation. All of their lives, it has been called The Kingdom, and their father's last words were, Don't let the white man take The Kingdom.

That single event not only brings the siblings together but sets off the array of lies, secrets, and drama. Even though the house of The Kingdom itself is bordering in a stage of disrepair, city lawyers and their clients from Charlotte circle like vultures wanting to claim the land. Loopholes are shown in the judicial system as well as greed and disregard for feelings by the almighty rich wanting to get richer.

Harris develops each of the four siblings' characters throughout the novel as they come to deal with the immediate problem as many other problems are revealed from their pasts and present lives, also.

Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark, for this exciting family saga that hits the shelves May 14th.

When the family patriarch dies suddenly, four siblings who have left the family behind to pursue other dreams are reunited in an effort to save their ancestral lands from an unscrupulous land developer who has found a legal loophole to their ownership of the inherited land. As we learn more about each sibling, we learn that "King" was really the glue that held the family together. With his passing, his children discover some long buried secrets about their deceased mother, and learn that leaving their past behind in their small rural town isn't as easy as hopping a bus to the city. As each adult child is drawn back, we read chapters devoted to their individual stories and how they not only need each other but they also need the land to remain in the family as the "Kingdom" is what defines their fierce independence and fighting spirits.
This is a book about the deep ties that bind a family together despite how time and distance may have drawn them apart. You'll want to cry, laugh and scream along with these individuals as they learn to accept their fears and move into the future as a united family.

This book had my heart hurting and my mind rooting for the poor children of King. As someone who has lost a parent, I understand the pain of loss and also the guilt/confusion of meeting up to expectations that can’t be spoken aloud anymore. Each of the 4 had a terrible secret, but they were secrets that didn’t come from personal weakness but rather from circumstances beyond their controls. I felt invested in the development of each character and felt proud of them when they admitted to their mistakes and came together as a family.

This is a powerful, emotional book that will have you thinking about the plot long after you finish the final page. I love reading a story about a family - especially through multiple points of view. Every character is complicated with their own stories to tell. Wonderful writing and storytelling. Highly recommend this novel!

I’ve been contemplating for days how I can do this book justice in my review. I know some people are going to say “oh my gosh what a bunch of whiners.” And they were at times. But the crux of the story is coming back to your family. And being there for each other. I found this book so touching, and so real. Very well written.

Terah Shelton Harris is now my new favorite author. I will definetely pick up all her books. She writes so beautifully. She has an amazing skill of crafting four POV in this novel. The story pulled me in quickly. When I can really invision the place, the people and the atmosphere this is a great author.

The story focuses on four siblings whose father just passed away in North Carolina. They all carry so much baggage and are fighting their own personal battle.

"Don't let the white man take the house." The last thing the father, King Solomon says to his son before he dies.

All four Solomon siblings must return to NC to save the Kingdom, their acestral home and 200 acres of land, from a development company, who want to turn it into a luxury resort. While fighting the Kingdom, the siblings must save themselves from secrets they have been holding onto.

This novel explores letting go of things that no longer serve you, the burden of familial expectations, miscommunication, and legacies.

I highly recommend this book if you like family relationships, lies, secrets, difficult situations. There are some true-to-life situations in this novel. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC and my honest review of this book.

Wow! Such an interesting and engaging read. Terah Shelton Harris has created a unique situation to shine a light on the issue of heir property ownership. The individual stories are emotional and a bit complicated, but still nicely woven together in a way that moves the story forward.

The only thing that would have made this book better in my eyes was to have a better understanding of how Junior, Mance, and Tokey got to the places they were in when the book started. I appreciated the detailed history of CeCe and Ellis, as it helped me understand the strength of their bond and how Ellis's influence over CeCe was so great. I only wish we could have had as much backstory for the other siblings.

I will say that this book was a bit of a chore to get through but I believe it’s because of the emotional generational trauma woven throughout. I did finish and it was an interesting read and I learned an out a part of history I had no idea existed. That’s the good part. The bad is that none of the characters were particularly likable except for one. The twist for me was that the actual villain was not whom I expected to be.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Long After We Are Gone by Terah Shelton Harris is an amazing read. After their father dies, four siblings come together for the funeral, but each of them have their own secrets to hide. Will the lies, deceit and betrayal tear apart what remains of this family for good or will it bring them together? Will they realize that it is okay to remember where they come from and that they do not have to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors? It is always important to embrace the past, but it’s more important for you to find your own path on this journey in life to find out where you are going. You will definitely want to keep a box of tissues handy for this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

I DNF'd this at 50%. It wasn't holding my attention and I didn't like any of the characters enough to keep going. It is disappointing because I loved Terah's last book! I was really looking forward to this one, but it fell so flat for me.

Long After We Are Gone is the fascinating story of estranged siblings who are burdened with the task of honoring their father’s dying wish by keeping two hundred acres of land from getting into the hands of the white man. That’s difficult to do when the land is heir property and no one has clear title or ownership. Especially when a rogue uncle is not motivated by familial bonds but greed. As the siblings are threatened with losing the property, secrets that held them bound are revealed and relationships are healed. Only then are they able to unite as one to fulfill the promise and free themselves from generational trauma. The story is captivating and kept me engaged from beginning to end. I highly recommend it.

Hang onto your hat with this book. I can honestly say that I’ve never read a first chapter that has hooked me so quickly, touched me so deeply and made me hitch my breath so many times than this book did. Actually, it didn’t stop doing those things right up until the very last page. The Solomon siblings are each fighting their own battles when their father dies and they are thrown together for the first time in a long time. Drastically different, yet each holding onto the threads of their family for their own reasons, they band together to save The Kingdom, the only home they’ve ever known passed down from their ancestors. When a shady uncle and greedy outsiders try to steal their land out from under them, they fight back, but their many, many secrets come out in the process. This book is explosive. It is emotional. It is raw. It is real. It is shocking. It. Is. Everything. The best part? The incredible way the author cares for her readers. The book opens with a heartfelt trigger warning unlike anything I’ve ever read. I felt cared for even before the first page began. So, if you know there are certain things that are off limits in your reading life, read this first before you go on. But I highly recommend that you do.

A story of family, love, secrets and how they all impact individuals in a powerful family that must come together to save the land their father loved. This story unfolds with backstories for the children as they lose their patriarch and must grapple with what that means for their future.

I so loved One Summer in Savannah that I was delighted to get this ARC and was just as enamored with this bittersweet story of a family in crisis. As King dies, his last words are, "Don't let the white man take the house." And so begins the tale of siblings, each with their own secrets, failures, and inadequacies, as they attempt to reconcile in the face of adversity as their land is about to be taken away from them. It's a magnificent tale of the siblings' foibles, as well as blackmail, embezzlement, and above all: understanding. And as outsiders try to destroy what was once--and always will be--their property, Harris shows us that the only foundation that cannot be razed is family!

A powerful loss in a family leads to a lifetime of revelations and honesty. After their father died, aptly named the King, the family is forced to reveal the secrets in the closet that have haunted the family for decades. Each sibling had been hiding from their father a secret that they feared would destroy their family’s reputation and their own life in the process.

I loved One Summer in Savannah and so I appreciated the chance to read an ARC of this book (thanks very much, NetGalley!). I found it long and difficult to read and I couldn't find a character to like. Maybe Tokey.