{"title":"Maud Newton","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the thought-provoking essays and criticism of Maud Newton, exploring literature, genealogy, and Southern identity. Perfect for readers who enjoy nuanced cultural commentary and personal reflection.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"ancestor-trouble-book-maud-newton-9780812997927","title":"Ancestor Trouble","description":"\u003cb\u003eExtraordinary and wide-ranging . . . a literary feat that simultaneously builds and excavates identity.--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003e(Editors' Choice)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eRoxane Gay's Audacious Book Club Pick\u003c\/b\u003e -\u003cb\u003e Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize - \u003c\/b\u003eAn acclaimed writer goes searching for the truth about her wildly unconventional Southern family--and finds that our obsession with ancestors opens up new ways of seeing ourselves--in this brilliant mix of personal memoir and cultural observation (\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker, \u003c\/i\u003eNPR, \u003ci\u003eTime, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Esquire, Garden \u0026amp; Gun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMaud Newton's ancestors have vexed and fascinated her since she was a girl. Her mother's father, who came of age in Texas during the Great Depression, was said to have married thirteen times and been shot by one of his wives. Her mother's grandfather killed a man with a hay hook and died in an institution. Mental illness and religious fanaticism percolated through Maud's maternal lines back to an ancestor accused of being a witch in Puritan-era Massachusetts. Maud's father, an aerospace engineer turned lawyer, was an educated man who extolled the virtues of slavery and obsessed over the purity of his family bloodline, which he traced back to the Revolutionary War. He tried in vain to control Maud's mother, a whirlwind of charisma and passion given to feverish projects: thirty rescue cats, and a church in the family's living room where she performed exorcisms. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHer parents' divorce, when it came, was a relief. Still, her position at the intersection of her family bloodlines inspired in Newton inspired an anxiety that she could not shake, a fear that she would replicate their damage. She saw similar anxieties in the lives of friends, in the works of writers and artists she admired. As obsessive in her own way as her parents, Newton researched her genealogy--her grandfather's marriages, the accused witch, her ancestors' roles in slavery and genocide--and sought family secrets through her DNA. But immersed in census archives and cousin matches, she yearned for deeper truths. Her journey took her into the realms of genetics, epigenetics, and the debates over intergenerational trauma. She mulled over modernity's dismissal of ancestors along with psychoanalytic and spiritual traditions that center them. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSearching, moving, and inspiring, \u003ci\u003eAncestor Trouble\u003c\/i\u003e is one writer's attempt to use genealogy--a once-niche hobby that has grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry--to expose the secrets and contradictions of her own ancestors, and to argue for the transformational possibilities that reckoning with our ancestors offers all of us.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49546962764049,"sku":"GOR012632792","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49649275765009,"sku":"GOR013644028","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50095023751441,"sku":"CIN0812997921G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50542700822801,"sku":"CIN0812997921VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":53032702738705,"sku":"CIN0812997921A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53353664184593,"sku":"GOR013458213","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0812997921.jpg?v=1750914683"},{"product_id":"ancestor-trouble-book-maud-newton-9780812987492","title":"Ancestor Trouble","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Extraordinary and wide-ranging . . . a literary feat that simultaneously builds and excavates identity.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e (Editors' Choice)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eRoxane Gay's Audacious Book Club Pick * Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize * An acclaimed writer goes searching for the truth about her complicated Southern family--and finds that our obsession with ancestors opens up new ways of seeing ourselves--in this \"brilliant mix of personal memoir and cultural observation\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker,\u003c\/i\u003e NPR, \u003ci\u003eTime, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Esquire, Garden \u0026amp; Gun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Maud Newton's ancestors have fascinated her since she was a girl. Her mother's father was said to have married thirteen times. Her mother's grandfather killed a man with a hay hook. Mental illness and religious fanaticism percolated Maud's maternal lines back to an ancestor accused of being a witch in Puritan-era Massachusetts.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Newton's family inspired in her a desire to understand family patterns: what we are destined to replicate and what we can leave behind. She set out to research her genealogy--her grandfather's marriages, the accused witch, her ancestors' roles in slavery and other harms. Her journey took her into the realms of genetics, epigenetics, and debates over intergenerational trauma. She mulled over modernity's dismissal of ancestors along with psychoanalytic and spiritual traditions that center them. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Searching and inspiring, \u003ci\u003eAncestor Trouble\u003c\/i\u003e is one writer's attempt to use genealogy--a once-niche hobby that has grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry--to make peace with the secrets and contradictions of her family's past and face its reverberations in the present, and to argue for the transformational possibilities that reckoning with our ancestors offers all of us.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50363567407377,"sku":"CIN0812987497VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50366267228433,"sku":"CIN0812987497G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51007991480593,"sku":"NIN9780812987492","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52623835169041,"sku":"GOR014566575","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0812987497.jpg?v=1750882465"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-maud-newton.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}