The Wreck : A Daughter's Memoir of Becoming a Mother

**Equal parts investigative and deeply introspective, __The Wreck__ is a profound memoir about recognizing the echoes of history within ourselves, and the alchemy of turning inherited grief into renewal.**There is a secret that young Cassandra Jackson doesn’t know, and it’s evident in the way her father cries her name out in his sleep. Through awkward encounters with family, she comes to realize that she is named after her father's niece, and looks eerily like the child’s mother, both of whom were killed in a car wreck along with her father's beloved mother, and—as she soon discovers—his first wife. Cassandra learns to keep silent about the wreck, but soon learns there is no way to outpace the claw-like grip of her family’s past trauma.In this luminous memoir, Jackson attempts to unearth her lost family, while also creating a new one—only to discover little progress separates the past from the present. As she moves back and forth between her girlhood and her journey to motherhood, Jackson reveals the chilling parallels between the harrowing inhumanity of Jim Crow medical care and the toxic discrimination that undergirds healthcare in the United States today. But as she traces the cascading effects of loss punctuated by racism, she also discovers a powerful legacy of fearless love and furious perseverance that she hopes to extend to a new generation.Lyrical, urgent, and wise, this is an unforgettable story of reclaiming the past to reclaim ourselves. NPR's Books We Love 2023 Equal parts investigative and deeply introspective, The Wreck is a profound memoir about recognizing the echoes of history within ourselves, and the alchemy of turning inherited grief into renewal. There is a secret that young Cassandra Jackson doesn’t know, and it’s evident in the way her father cries her name out in his sleep. Through awkward encounters with family, she comes to realize that she is named after her father's niece, and looks eerily like the child’s mother, both of whom were killed in a car wreck along with her father's beloved mother, and—as she soon discovers—his first wife. Cassandra learns to keep silent about the wreck, but soon learns there is no way to outpace the claw-like grip of her family’s past trauma. In this luminous memoir, Jackson attempts to unearth her lost family, while also creating a new one—only to discover little progress separates the past from the present. As she moves back and forth between her girlhood and her journey to motherhood, Jackson reveals the chilling parallels between the harrowing inhumanity of Jim Crow medical care and the toxic discrimination that undergirds healthcare in the United States today. But as she traces the cascading effects of loss punctuated by racism, she also discovers a powerful legacy of fearless love and furious perseverance that she hopes to extend to a new generation. Lyrical, urgent, and wise, this is an unforgettable story of reclaiming the past to reclaim ourselves. "Equal parts investigative and deeply introspective, The Wreck is a profound memoir about recognizing the echoes of history within ourselves, and the alchemy of turning inherited grief into political activism. There is a secret that young Cassandra Jackson doesn't know, and it's evident in the way her father cries her name out in his sleep. It's not until she meets her extended family for the first time that she realizes she is named after-and looks eerily like-her father's niece, who was killed in a car wreck along with her father's beloved mother, his only sister, and-as she soon discovers-his first wife. In this compelling memoir, Jackson retraces her and her family's past and finds a single common thread: the medical malpractice and neglect whose effects have caused needless loss and suffering in her family. It's as she steps back further that she realizes this single thread touches every single Black family in America, turning this deeply personal memoir into a political call to action. Jackson offers an eye-opening look at how administrative procedures and political maneuvers that seem far from our everyday lives dictate life-or-death consequences for individuals, highlighting this as a piece of American history we still have the chance to course correct"-- Provided by publisher