A John Murray Original
Compassionate and readable, the novel vividly captures the pressures faced by African-American families in a country still racked with racial tensions * Sunday Times * An acclaimed debut following three generations of a New Orleans family * Financial Times * Sexton's powerful first novel... A Kind of Freedom glimmers with hope * BBC Culture * An insider's intimate account of how people of colour in New Orleans struggle against white bigots and among themselves in attempts to achieve social evolution . . . a sensitive observer of the behaviour of her fellow natives of all classes, and reports their speech with wonderful fidelity * Spectator * A compelling debut novel . . . Race, class, unemployment, drug wars and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina all factor into Sexton's multigenerational tale, illustrating the persistent racial disparities in our so-called 'post-racial' America * Mercury News * This generational arc is largely related to systemic racism, but to simplify this novel as an exploration of such minimizes Wilkerson's incredible achievement . . . This remarkable debut marks Margaret Wilkerson Sexton as a writer worth watching * Chicago Review of Books * It's hard to believe that A Kind of Freedom is Sexton's first novel . . . This is a book for our time * New York Journal of Books * This emotionally wrenching, character-rich debut spans three generations in a city deeply impacted by segregation, economic inequality, and racial tensions . . . In this fine debut, each generation comes with new possibilities and deferred dreams blossoming with the hope that this time, finally, those dreams may come to fruition * Publishers Weekly * A well-crafted - and altogether timely - first novel * Kirkus Reviews * this scintillating novel shines light on the legacy of racism through three generations of a black family in New Orleans * Book Riot * A fascinating exploration of the long-lasting and enduring divisive legacy of slavery in the US . . . a story that will pull you in and keep you hypnotised * Stylist *
Born and raised in New Orleans, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton studied creative writing at Dartmouth and law at UC Berkeley. A recipient of the Lombard fellowship, she spent a year in the Dominican Republic working for a civil rights organization and writing. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and her stories have been published or are forthcoming in The Massachusetts Review, Grey Sparrow Journal, Limestone Journal, and Broad! Magazine. She lives in the Bay Area, California. A Kind of Freedom is her debut novel.