Let Us Descend, the title of Jesmyn Ward’s novel, is a reference to a line from Dante’s Inferno that Annis, a slave who is the protagonist of the novel, overheard the tutor of her master’s children recite. It also is descriptive of her journey when the master turns her over to the “Georgia Men” to be marched with other slaves to the auction market in New Orleans. Supporting characters include Annis’s mother, a spirit who accompanies her on the journey and its aftermath, and the history of slavery itself. The writing is visceral, evocative, and beautiful. There’s a reason Ward is a two-time National Book Award Winner. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jesmyn-ward/let-us-descend/ 

The Best American Short Stories 2021, edited by renowned writer Jesmyn War, is exactly what it purports to be – a collection of the best stories of the year. You don’t have to subscribe to The New Yorker and dozens of other magazines to find the gems. Someone has done it for you.  I won’t mention the settings or premises of the stories because, as the book jacket says, the collection is a wide array of “profoundly empathetic depictions of the variety of human experience.” Collected for you are twenty stories that create twenty different worlds within the confines of a short story. If you’re a short story fan, and a fortiori if you’re a short story writer, this is a must read.