A Kind of Freedom

“This luminous and assured first novel shines an unflinching, compassionate light on three generations of a black family in New Orleans, emphasizing endurance more than damage.”

“Sexton subtly lays bare the ever-present societal forces at work to undermine black success and family.”

“The story moves through three generations of a black family, each represented by a character whose sections are delivered by three accomplished narrators. Bahni Turpin gives us Evelyn…Evelyn and Renard’s daughter marries a man who loses his job and becomes addicted to crack cocaine. Adenrele Ojo delivers these sections, her voice filled with anguish and dashed hope. Meanwhile, Kevin Kenerly’s mellow, resonant voice gives us a young man struggling to get off drugs and become a fitting father to his own infant son.”

“Narrator Bahni Turpin lays the foundation for the audiobook as Evelyn…Sexton and her narrators keep this family saga moving from hope to heartache and back again.”

“Powerful…Despite the struggles, A Kind of Freedom glimmers with hope.”

“An urgent novel that explores the legacy of racial disparity in the South through a poignant and redemptive family history.”

“A novel about three generations of a New Orleans family, cut back and forth
so that each generation can whisper in the other’s ears, beautifully intimate
and heartbreaking, and also a portrait of America.”

“Being able to capture seventy years of New Orleans history and the emotional changes in one family in such a short book is a testament to Sexton’s powers of descriptive restraint.”

“This family is worth every minute of a reader’s time.”

“Shows us that hard work does not guarantee success and that progress doesn’t always move in a straight line…Well-crafted—and altogether timely.”

“A fresh take on the family novel, telling each generation’s stories together…The three narrators give each generation its own unique voice and point of view.”

“An elegant, captivating, and generous debut novel…about how our choices are indelibly influenced by our familial histories, whether we’re aware or not, and how the present connects to the past…Demonstrates the complex web of fate…multifaceted and beautiful.”

“A fresh and unflinching portrait of African American life…Vividly imagined and boldly told, A Kind of Freedom is a book for our time. A fierce and courageous debut.”

“A brilliant mosaic of an African American family and a love song to New Orleans. Her characters are all of us, America’s family, written with deep insight and devastating honesty but also with grace and beauty. Wilkerson’s stunning debut illuminates the journey of sisters and the generations they bear.”

“A compassionately told story of four generations in one American family who endure the unpredictable challenges of our rapidly changing society. Bound together through blood ties and love, Sexton’s keenly drawn characters sweep you into a mesmerizing cascade of loss and triumph.”

“Interweaves generations of parent-child relations to reveal, with sharp insight, how promise and possibility…[are] shaped by the limits to freedom.”