Though we do not see firsthand any incidents of rape (and later an inferral that not is all that is seems with the sisters), we do witness the murder negligence, and later there is a moment in the book that is fundamentally horrific but is presented as natural justice, and for me was handled tastefully. I will say out front, that the horror here stays backstage – there are accounts and inferred rape accusations about the Sheriff, who does nothing when confronted with a murder (guilty through negligence) that impacts the family. I was totally committed within pages and loved every second in the novel. Each of the sisters has a radically different personality, and added to that mix are a dominating mother, a loving if somewhat irresponsible father, and the mysterious Aunt and her HooDoo. This is a book that transports you from the first page into the easy-flowing and lovingly competitive lives of the three sisters, Pee Wee, Betty, and Ann.

Tracy nails the language, details, and atmosphere. Rootwork is written from the varying povs of three black sisters living in Louisiana in 1889. This isn’t a flash in the pan, this is the culmination of a studied application of writing that a writer brings to their game. Quite aside from the fact that this book is on Mother Horror’s Dark Hart label, Tracy has received both the HWA scholarship from hell for 2022, a Ladies of Horror fiction grant, and a 2019 new voices fellowship from the emerging writer’s festival. I want to start off by focusing the start of this review on Tracy herself.

Rootwork by Tracy Cross