These Ghosts Are Family

There’s no escaping past actions in this book—from a dying man confessing he assumed the identity of a dead friend and began a new life to the exploits of the Paisley family during colonial-era Jamaica.

I love the way the family stories intertwine, how the book traces the movement of Jamaican people from the Caribbean island to England and America, and the way the ghosts in the family are not just people but also broader things: slavery, colonization, migration, and abandoned families.

Maisy Card’s These Ghosts Are Family revolves around one of the great plots that are all too common in real life, a secret family. The central patriarch has faked his death, stole an identity, and abandoned his kin to migrate to the United States, where he has made another family. Card’s portrait of migration, kinship, and history is as thought-provoking as it is nuanced, and the prose is a joy to read. And I don’t want to spoil anything, but the farthest back historical chapter will stick with you for some time.