Book Review: Ours by Phillip B. Williams

Phillip B. Williams’ Ours is a hard book to explain. Its story is dense and complicated while still being easy enough to follow. It’s full of magic while also being grounded in historical reality. It’s about a fairly large cast of characters but at its core only about a few key ideas. It probably could have used a little bit more trimming down, but the gorgeously poetic writing glides by. It feels familiar in some ways and in others is one of the year’s most unique stories. I don’t think it will be everyone’s cup of tea, but those that get into it will find much to treasure within its pages.

In 1830s America, a dangerous and magical woman named Saint traverses Southern plantations, freeing the slaves and leaving no survivors among their masters or anyone who gets in the way. When she has amassed a sizable following this way, she settles into a town just outside St. Louis and names it Ours. To keep the citizens safe, she casts protective spells over the community helping it to flourish while remaining hidden to those she wants to keep out. As such, Ours thrives in ways that other neighborhoods of newly freed slaves do not, but Saint’s magic and her somewhat fickle moods lead to strange and even tragic occurrences causing the townsfolk to grow increasingly wary of her control over their lives.

Over time, outsiders make their way into Ours, some pose an obvious threat, others might bring blessings. Saint adopts a pair of twin girls, and then welcomes visitors Joy and Frances into her home, moves that bring her both some version of happiness even though she suspects that they may at least partially be mistakes. While she tries to determine her best course of action, the residents of Ours must deal with their own matters of the heart as they try to work out how to live their lives as free people, what that even means, and whether they truly are.

For the first two thirds the book jumps around from person to person and moment to moment so much that it can feel more like a series of interconnected short stories than a novel, but the overarching story gels together better in the latter portion. Each section features a significant moment in the creation of Ours or the lives of its inhabitants and combined with elegantly dreamy sentences it feels akin to Greek or Roman mythology. Most of the characters possess at least some magical power, whether they fully understand it or not, which only further earns the comparison, and much of what occurs to them feels designed to impart some lesson. Ultimately a story about the legacy of slavery on our country’s Black population, and the ways that the past can continue to exert influence over our lives, this beautifully written if slightly overstuffed novel will stick with readers. ★★★★