The Last Dreamwalker

May 15, 2022
Layla has never been able to understand her all-too-real nightmares, or why her mother, Elinor, tried to ignore them. After Elinor's death, Layla learns that she has inherited half a plantation in the Sea Islands--a plantation she just dreamed about. Layla was viciously haunted in that dream by Charlotte, the cousin who owns the other half. Her aunts in South Carolina and told her about the gift passed from third daughter to third daughter--the ability to walk within people's dreams and the power to manipulate the dreamer. Layla and Charlotte are the last of these dreamwalkers, and even though Charlotte's anger at Elinor threatens Layla and those she loves, Layla is determined to stay and uncover all the secrets her mother had kept. Interspersed with chapters from the perspective of Gemma, Layla's Gullah/Geechee ancestor who used her dreamwalking power to claim the plantation during the Civil War, Woods' second novel (after Remembrance, 2020) blends magic realism with Gullah/Geechee history. Vivid descriptions and well-developed characters enhance the mounting tension as Layla contends with her family's past and charts her future.

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September 1, 2022
A young woman discovers that her inheritance from her estranged mother includes an island--and a supernatural power. Like many of the scariest horror stories, this one is set amid family drama. A young Black woman named Layla Hurley struggles with how to mourn her mother, Elinor, a cold and exacting woman from whom Layla was long estranged. Then Layla's aunts, Jayne and Therese, whom she hasn't seen for years, appear at her mother's funeral, enveloping her with the love and warmth their sister Elinor withheld. Condolence and affection aren't all they have to offer--they want Layla to know that she has inherited Scotia Island, one of the Sea Islands off the South Carolina coast, near where the aunts live in Port Royal. One problem is that ownership is disputed by their cousin Charlotte Fortenberry, who is, to put it mildly, a difficult person. The other problem is that the island isn't the only thing Layla inherited. It turns out that the strange, inexplicable dreams she has had off and on over the years are the manifestation of a gift--or curse--handed down through the female members of her family, the third daughters of third daughters. They are Dreamwalkers, able to enter into and experience the dreams of other people--and, if their skill is carefully developed, to manipulate those dreams. Chapters of the book jump back to the last days of the Civil War, when an enslaved woman named Gemma, Layla's ancestor, was living on Scotia Island and using that power, escalating it to frightening levels. As Layla tries to understand the nature of her own power, she also must decide whether to deploy it--and whether the outcome would be worth the cost. Woods develops complex and mostly appealing characters, and she keeps the plot moving at a swift pace. Family life is the grounding for a compelling story of strange powers and old secrets.

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