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Margaret Wilkerson Sexton’s second novel, The Revisioners, is a sprawling multigenerational tale about the pain and wisdom that is passed on through generations. The book is centered on two perspectives and in two time periods, one being 1924, well into the Jim Crow south in New Orleans, and the other being present day in the same location. The central perspective of the novel is that of Josephine, who owns a farm in New Orleans and had used her supernatural power of imagination and vision to escape the bonds of slavery in her youth. In 2017, Josephine’s descendant Ava is a young single mother, who for financial reasons moves in with her elderly white grandmother as her caretaker. Ava and her young son are forced to come to terms with Grandma Martha’s erratic behavior, which makes clear the tensions that still exist in a family of mixed races. The stories of these two women intertwine in some really powerful ways, as Ava connects to this supernatural power of her ancestors in order to escape from the traumas of her own existence brought on by socioeconomic, cultural, and emotional factors. This is an expertly woven tale about the inheritance of trauma, but also about the inheritance of female intuition and strength. In a recent interview with NPR, Sexton articulated in her own words, “one of the main messages that I wanted the readers to get from the book was that there is intergenerational trauma. Yes. But there’s also intergenerational strength and wisdom and power that’s passed along from our ancestors’ struggles. And in this story, the more Ava connects with that ancestral history and base of knowledge the stronger she becomes.”
The most affecting parts of this novel are the moments when the two women’s stories intertwine, and one of those such instances is the mirroring of their relationships with the white women around them. The farm next to Josephine’s is owned by a young white couple called Vern and Charlotte, who never give her much trouble. However, this changes when Charlotte begins visiting Josephine, as she has heard rumors about Josephine’s gift for helping women in the community get pregnant, and delivering healthy babies. Charlotte is having trouble getting pregnant, and it is clear that this is causing a rift in her marriage, and Josephine discovers that Vern is physically abusing Charlotte and blaming her for their infertility. Josephine keeps her distance from Charlotte, she is aware of the fraught dynamics between black and white women that are putting a strain their relationship, but overall maintains a friendly and welcoming disposition. On Charlotte’s second visit, Josephine notes, “White women don’t sniff around black women’s kitchens too long before they got their sights on something they can take, something they got to have.” And Josephine’s son warns her, “Our people can’t be friends with theirs, you know that. They’re not capable of it. They think friend mean mule. They think friend means they can take and take and you never get tired of giving.” Josephine’s son is justified in his concern, as Charlotte and Vern join a local social club, the Klu Klux Klan, and Vern begins threatening Josephine and her family with violence over petty property matters. The imbalance of power between the women is exposed, as Josephine’s simple kindnesses towards Charlotte are no protection from her husband’s violent racially-charged hatred. Josephine’s power lies in her ability to transcend the base hatred of those surrounding her, carrying the lesson taught to her by her mother that holding onto hatred will only cause it to manifest itself in one’s own future, to spread ugliness in one’s consciousness. Josephine is not a doormat for her white neighbors to step on, she does not forgive them their sins, but she makes the choice to offer gentleness to Charlotte, who is a domestic abuse victim herself, choosing to be a healer rather than contribute to the suffering of herself and her loved ones.
The difference for Ava is that the white women who holds the power in the relationship is her own familial relation. Ava’s grandmother is the mother of Ava’s absent father, whose family wasn’t a part of Ava or her mother’s life until many years too late, which is part of the reason that Ava feels so uncomfortable in her grandmother’s home. This is not someone she grew up with, not someone who has offered her unconditional love and support in her life, and to make matters worse, Grandma Martha is conscious of the fact that her financial status gives her a great deal of power over Ava. For all of her mentions of her own generosity and compassion for Ava and her son, Grandma Martha is quick to make racially sensitive remarks, and during her outbursts she accuses Ava of being an intruder and a thief. She creates an atmosphere of other-ness surrounding her granddaughter, making it clear that Ava’s living in her home is conditional upon her companionship and service. Sharing Josephine’s suspicions about her white companion, Ava senses the great imbalance in the dynamic between the white woman and the woman of color, and how easy it is for her grandmother to exploit that imbalance. Ava finds solace in her mother, a doula who uses the power of meditation and mindfulness to help guide women in her community through the birthing process. Ava’s mother shares Ava’s concerns about Grandma Martha, and ultimately helps Ava to connect with her own inner power by joining her in her doula practice. When Ava substitutes for her mother in her duties as a birth one day, it is Josephine who comes to her in a vision, guiding her. In the final pushes of the difficult birth, she tells the expectant mother, as much as she also says to herself, “All the women who came before you are standing beside you and they’re cheering you on, they’re guiding you to the finish.”
It is so important to share stories of all the magical and joyful inheritances within marginalized communities, as the inheritance of trauma is most often the focus of these intergenerational narratives. Sexton recognizes the many beautiful cultural and familial traditions that arise from suffering, choosing to explore how racial trauma is not the only story that deserves to be told within families of color. Her narrative focuses on two intelligent, independent, and compassionate women of color who have a privileged access to the spiritual world, who are not valuable only for their material contributions to the world, but in the value of their essence, the virtue of their being. Their power is in their ability to connect to others, to serve as healers and guides for those who are experiencing suffering or feel alone in the world, a power that is so necessary to the survival of mankind. This novel is such a meaningful meditation on the power of womanhood, and an expertly crafted portrayal of the ways that spirituality and divine connection transcend human progress and the passage of time.