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angelintherye's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
I’m glad I read this book. Using her own family’s history and her experience researching that history, Maud Newton explores what it means to be descended from other human beings. She goes into detail about how things work like genealogy and DNA testing and the ethical concerns that come with it.
She grapples with being a white person on colonized land and descending from people who actively contributed to colonization and genocide and enslaved other people- I wish that the book had dedicated more time to talking about how to live with that truth and reparations but it also talked about those topics more than I feared it would when I started.
Lastly, she goes into the spiritual side of looking into our ancestors from a refreshingly balanced perspective of someone with religious Christian trauma, fear of appropriation, and also openness to the unknown.
I also think this last section could have been a whole book on its own and I would read a sequel if she delved further into either topics (this or the reparations).
She grapples with being a white person on colonized land and descending from people who actively contributed to colonization and genocide and enslaved other people- I wish that the book had dedicated more time to talking about how to live with that truth and reparations but it also talked about those topics more than I feared it would when I started.
Lastly, she goes into the spiritual side of looking into our ancestors from a refreshingly balanced perspective of someone with religious Christian trauma, fear of appropriation, and also openness to the unknown.
I also think this last section could have been a whole book on its own and I would read a sequel if she delved further into either topics (this or the reparations).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual assault and Forced institutionalization
mercedesb's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting book. Part memoir, part history of genealogy, part reckoning with colonial/white supremacist lineage.
I really have to give it to the author for completing this project and putting it out into the world. While there are some valid criticisms, she did a wonderful job researching and layering her actual family history with the history of genealogy and with real American history (e.g. chattel slavery, genocide, etc).
This book almost makes me want to dive into researching my own family (though I hate the idea of giving my info to those platforms).
While some parts of the book that center on deconstructing racism and white supremacy feel a little 101, I think it's well done considering who her audience is and the fact that this is her real life.
I really have to give it to the author for completing this project and putting it out into the world. While there are some valid criticisms, she did a wonderful job researching and layering her actual family history with the history of genealogy and with real American history (e.g. chattel slavery, genocide, etc).
This book almost makes me want to dive into researching my own family (though I hate the idea of giving my info to those platforms).
While some parts of the book that center on deconstructing racism and white supremacy feel a little 101, I think it's well done considering who her audience is and the fact that this is her real life.
aharman13's review against another edition
4.0
A little tedious at times, but I really enjoyed this complicated journey of ancestry.
dmturner's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting and wide-ranging mixture of memoir, family history, research, and investigation. The dip into ancestor worship near the end was over the top but many of the other perspectives were enlightening. The author’s parents were something else and I found myself occasionally horrified.
hew's review against another edition
3.0
this text is quite a feat to have undertaken, part autobiography/part history of history genealogy study/part deconstruction of white supremacy within familial structures*. Newton was using a lot of moving pieces in a book that I personally felt deserved more time to live in each aspect of her work. Though they are quite cohesive together and contextualize each other beautifully in her writing I felt at times there were simply not enough pages.
If you are looking for a gentle intro to the topics above it is very approachable and written accessibly for those both familiar and unfamiliar with texts on history through an academic lens. If any one of the topics covered in the text are of interest this book is a great expansion into necessary sister topics. but if you are wanting to wade deeper into the shared areas of the subject matter covered you may be disappointed as this is more of a intro to the topic rather than anything deeper or challenging.
*The author does seem to have a white audience in mind for this book and I would say this is only scratching the first layer of more deeper introspection on veins of white supremacy and racism and deconstructing/dismantling those structures within family units and histories. Helpful for those working on starting their anti-racist work but by NO means should this be considered an end.
If you are looking for a gentle intro to the topics above it is very approachable and written accessibly for those both familiar and unfamiliar with texts on history through an academic lens. If any one of the topics covered in the text are of interest this book is a great expansion into necessary sister topics. but if you are wanting to wade deeper into the shared areas of the subject matter covered you may be disappointed as this is more of a intro to the topic rather than anything deeper or challenging.
*The author does seem to have a white audience in mind for this book and I would say this is only scratching the first layer of more deeper introspection on veins of white supremacy and racism and deconstructing/dismantling those structures within family units and histories. Helpful for those working on starting their anti-racist work but by NO means should this be considered an end.
surefinewhatever_'s review against another edition
Listen…I only have 1 hour left of this audiobook but I am SO BORED. And more interesting library holds came in, so I’m moving on. I wish this was more focused on memoir and less science/philosophy. I see the vision and get how it’s all connected, but at times it felt like a textbook & I had a hard time staying engaged.
acbrummitt's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
emilytoe's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book and it's reflections until it veered into ancestor worship. It was odd and undermined the discussions of wrongs and reparations
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
4.0
A 2022 staff favorite recommended by Lori P. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__SAncestor%20Trouble%20Newton__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold