Walking Gentry Home

A Memoir of My Foremothers in Verse

By: Alora Young

Narrated by: Alora Young

An “extraordinary” (Laurie Halse Anderson) young poet traces the lives of her foremothers in West Tennessee, from those enslaved centuries ago to her grandmother, her mother, and finally herself, in this stunning debut celebrating Black girlhood and womanhood throughout American history.

“A masterpiece that beautifully captures the heartbreak that accompanies coming of age for Black girls becoming Black women.”—Evette Dionne, author of Lifting as We Climb, longlisted for the National Book Award

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Ms. Magazine, Kirkus Reviews

Walking Gentry Home tells the story of Alora Young’s ancestors, from the unnamed women forgotten by the historical record but brought to life through Young’s imagination; to Amy, the first of Young’s foremothers to arrive in Tennessee, buried in an unmarked grave, unlike the white man who enslaved her and fathered her child; through Young’s great-grandmother Gentry, unhappily married at fourteen; to her own mother, the teenage beauty queen rejected by her white neighbors; down to Young in the present day as she leaves childhood behind and becomes a young woman.

The lives of these girls and women come together to form a unique American epic in verse, one that speaks of generational curses, coming of age, homes and small towns, fleeting loves and lasting consequences, and the brutal and ever-present legacy of slavery in our nation’s psyche. Each poem is a story in verse, and together they form a heart-wrenching and inspiring family saga of girls and women connected through blood and history.

Informed by archival research, the last will and testament of an enslaver, formal interviews, family lore, and even a DNA test, Walking Gentry Home gives voice to those too often muted in America: Black girls and women.

Wordsmith

Enjoyed it a lot! She’s a wordsmith! I can’t wait to talk about this book with my book club friends.

Lovely

This audible book is a powerful reading from Ms. Young! She has a gift of crafting lyrical storytelling with raw emotion and passion!!

Review of Walking Gentry Home

Very powerful. It gave me, a white woman who grew up in the 60s and 70s much to think about and learn from.

Simply Amazing Work of Art

I don't know what to say other than this book leaves me speechless. I think that this young woman is 19 years old it's just hard to comprehend. this book is written in poetry and listening to it is definitely a different experience than reading it.

In sports they say that "if everyone could play like Jordan, everyone would". I say that if anyone else could write this way someone else would have. This is a work of art that tells a story. Do yourself a favor and just listen.

Powerful poetry read by the author.

This was a powerful collection of poems beautifully read by the author. A word-while listen.