My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due

My Soul to Keep

Tananarive Due

A good and rewarding read, which took a while to get to grips with. The secret of one of the characters builds anguish and suspense in the final chapters, and the story concludes with an interesting revelation.

Extract
Despite their differences, Jessica wanted to believe with her heart that she and David were soul mates. But sometimes their reliance upon each other scared her. Often, at bedtime, instead of making love or going to sleep, they spent hours talking about deep subjects like how the legacy of the African slave trade had transformed the world, or the essences of men and women, or the nature of love .... They had to work at it, but they found their common ground.

Ultimately, though, their differences returned, and she wondered how deeply they ran. How could she continue to overlook them, when they loomed so large?

Jessica didn't notice that David had slipped his arm around her shoulder, and that his head was nuzzled against her neck ... as though begging for his life.

Parallels
  • Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevallier
  • Wild Seed by Octavia Butler