The Curse Of Hester Gardens by Tamika Thompson

The Curse of Hester Gardens

By Tamika Thompson

This one is going to haunt me for a while. It’s a really gutting story of gun violence, evil, family, and curses. Nona is a mother of three boys, living in  Hester Gardens. All she’s ever wanted is for her sons to escape Hester Gardens, but her oldest, Campbell killed before he can go to college around the same time her husband goes to prison for violence she never knew he was capable of.

Nona and her boys Marcus and Lance deal with the grief of losing Campbell while also living in an increasingly violent neighborhood. It seems the neighborhood has some other entity haunting them, a curse, if you will. Nona fights desperately to keep her boys safe in the midst of obstacles from all directions, along with the rest of Hester Gardens.

This book is one you will want to check to content warnings for, but it was very emotional for me to read. The author really captures subtle, but meaningful, dark changes that are experienced during grief. There is so much dread in this book and it’s a heavy read, but page turner nonetheless.

I listened to this audio book and thought the narrator, Jasmin Walker, was fantastic. She captured Nona’s voice even in the third person and also varied narration for chapters not focused on Nona. I listened on about 1.5 speed and thought the production was great.

Thanks to Tamika Thompson, Kensington Books, and Recorded Books for the ARC and ALC.