What You Leave Behind

A Novel

De: Wanda M. Morris

Narrado por: Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Lynnette R. Freeman

Duración: 10 h y 32 m

Resumen del Editor

Award-winning author Wanda Morris returns with a powerful, haunting thriller following a lawyer who after the mysterious disappearance of a local landowner and the death of his sister just months before, uncovers a conspiracy that dates back to Reconstruction and persists in half the United States today.

Deena Wood’s life has fallen apart in the aftermath of losing her beloved mother, her marriage, and her prestigious job at an Atlanta law firm. She needs what the Geechee people of coastal Georgia call a “dayclean,” a fresh start.

She returns to her childhood home in Brunswick, Georgia, to heal. But her return is anything but the respite she thought it might be. To make peace with all her loss, she often drives through the city. One day, she unwittingly finds herself on the oceanfront property of a loner widower who is fighting to keep land that has been in his family since the end of the Civil War. He threatens her and warns her to never return. But shortly after, he disappears, and his very expensive property is quickly put up for sale. Curious about what has happened to the man, Deena digs into his disappearance and finds a family legacy at risk. What starts out as a bit of curious snooping, turns into a deadly game of illegal land grabs and property redevelopment in poor and rural communities with dark and powerful forces at work.

Without realizing it, Deena finds herself caught up in a nightmarish scheme that threatens her community and her family. She’ll need help and finds it in a close but unlikely source because she knows she must do whatever it takes to stop the sinister forces at play before she becomes their next target.

©2024 Wanda M. Morris (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

The ancestors speaking, helping and protecting.

This book was amazing and educational. I was on the edge of my seat listening and I learned info about Heirs property.

Loss, Legacy, & Reclamation

What You Leave Behind by Wanda M. Morris is the compelling story of loss, legacy, and reclamation.

Deena Wood is a 39 year old attorney who moved back to her home town of Brunswick, GA to start over. Recently divorced on the heels of a humiliating job loss and in the throws of grief over the death of her mother, Deena is living with her father and his new wife—her mother’s best friend, Ruth. She is barely holding on to her new, soul-sucking job while nursing both fresh embarrassment at being back in the bedroom where she grew up and resentment toward Ruth. This is not the “dayclean” promised by her Geechee roots. That is… until a chance encounter with a mistrusting old man on an expensive piece of land sends Deena down the rabbit hole of family secrets, missing persons, land grabs, and ancestral fortitude.

There were so many things that I absolutely loved about this story chief among them being Deena’s support system of strong Black men. Her father, uncle, and ex boyfriend all showed up for her in ways that Deena didn’t always know or expect. (Like… how did Uncle Duke know about Deena’s surreptitious departure from her marital home? And what is it with old men and guns?) Another thing that I loved was how this story addressed generational wealth and legacy by tackling the important topic of stolen land and heirs property. So much is lost to families—especially Black families—by not knowing about nor understanding heirs property law. I also loved the incorporation of Geechee culture and their philosophies on connectivity to the ancestors. It was our Igbo ancestors who walked shackled into Dunbar Creek choosing death over bondage. It was the ancestors who forged a dialect “cobbled together from a dozen different African tongues just so they could communicate with each other when” brought to this strange and distant land. It was the ancestors who toiled and worked and purchased the land to pass on to generations to come. And it was the voice of recent ancestors that guided Deena when she needed it most letting her (and us) know that they are always covering us in spirit.

Overall this was a fantastic read! It was well-written with interesting characters, solid pacing, and a meaningful arc. This is my third read by this author and I can confidently say that everything she puts out is like spun gold. I highly recommend Anywhere You Run for those looking for more from this author. Personally, I can’t wait to see what Wanda M. Morris does next.

Good Story

I like how the author writes engaging books. Another good one. Joniece is not my favorite narrator but, because there wasn’t a lot of crying, she was tolerable.

A fast paced thriller set in the rich Gullah culture.

Wanda Morris has written another thriller while managing to also educate the reader about "heir" property. The characters come alive in this extremely fast paced real life story. This novel is a must read.

Gave me chills

I love all of Wanda’s books; but this was sooooo good! I could really relate to the people and theme.