This week, our First Impressions selection is Carrot Quinn's The Sunset Route, a harrowing but beautifully insightful memoir of a difficult childhood and freight train travel in the American West.

Our Editor's Choice review covers All That She Carried, Tiya Miles' nonfiction account of Ashley's Sack, a relic of slavery that came into being through a mother's love and survived over generations. The accompanying "beyond the book" article explores this and other artifacts displayed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Plus, we currently have three book club discussions open that anyone can read along with or join - and more on the way!

Very best,

Davina

Each month we give away books to BookBrowse members who live in the U.S. to read and review. Members who choose to participate receive a free book about every 3-4 months. Here are their opinions on one recently released title.

"The author, Carrot Quinn, tells her story of a harrowing childhood. She is raised by her schizophrenic mother and experiences terrible hunger. She leaves home and travels the country by freight train, which is quite dangerous... Carrot takes pleasure in the natural world and it heals her. And she uses the physical challenges of her lifestyle to move beyond her past. Her story is captivating and I enjoyed the book." - Norma R. (Secaucus, NJ)

"Carrot Quinn's book provides vivid insight into an adventurous life that most people would not even consider... This book should be a recommendation to any book club that is seeking to offer its participants an 'armchair' adventure!" - Dan W. (Fort Myers, FL)

"One of the most beautifully written memoirs I have ever read... I smelled the diesel fumes, felt her fears and loneliness, saw the blackest skies and brightest stars, tasted her hunger, and heard her innermost thoughts. Carrot had me from page one. I was completely engrossed and couldn't put The Sunset Route down. I highly recommend this book!" - Jayne A. (Old Saybrook, CT)

The just-published issue of The BookBrowse Review is packed with new reviews and articles; plus author interviews, recommendations for book clubs and previews of notable books publishing soon.

This twice-monthly magazine is just one benefit of being a BookBrowse member. Join Today!

For Rose of Charleston, South Carolina, it was an ordinary day until it wasn't. When it turned out that Ashley, Rose's beloved nine-year-old daughter and only child, was about to be sold, Rose went to work quickly. She assembled items for Ashley's relocation, laying them inside a cotton sack. The battered bag would be the last thing Rose touched that her daughter would know. It would change hands for the following 90 years, an inheritance from one generation to the next, a symbol of love and survivorship, slavery and family separation. For five years, Ashley's Sack would hang in a basement gallery at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. In 2022, its display is expected at the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina.

The story of the old cloth and its ancestral meaning is told in All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake. Harvard historian Tiya Miles has written a fierce chronicle of resistance and maternal love in a time of grief and family separation...

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The three-tiered National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. embraces the rich history of slaves and their descendants. The museum opened in 2016, displaying thousands of artifacts illustrating the experience of the unfree, and the emancipated, including Ashley's Sack (which will be on display next at the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina).

The item given to nine-year-old Ashley by her mother before she was sold brought many to tears, particularly the wording embroidered on it by Ashley's granddaughter, Ruth: "My great grandmother Rose / mother of Ashley gave her this sack when / she was sold at age 9 in South Carolina / it held a tattered dress 3 handfulls of / pecans a braid of Roses hair. Told her / It be filled with my Love always / she never saw her again / Ashley is my grandmother / Ruth Middleton / 1921." ...

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The above "beyond the book" article is one of hundreds in our Places, Cultures and Identities category. Other recent articles include:

Review and article by Valerie Morales

Discussions are open to all, so please join us! If you would like to receive a message when a particular discussion opens, sign up for a one-time notification. You can also find inspiration for your group among our more than 150 past discussions.