The Intergenerational Power In Margaret Wilkerson Sexton's New Book 'The Revisoners'

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National Book Award nominee Margaret Wilkerson Sexton explores the power and strength passed through African American families in her new book 'The Revisioners.'

Ava King is a newly divorced mother of a teenage son when she moves into her grandmother’s posh New Orleans home. Ava is the descendant of slaves, grandma Martha is about as WASP-y as they come, and their connected pasts are one of the plot twists in The Revisioners, a new novel by National Book Award finalist Margaret Wilkerson Sexton.

There is some magic in The Revisioners, but it’s less fantasy than testament to intergenerational bonds — in this case between Ava and her great-great-great grandmother, born enslaved on a Louisiana plantation.

Margaret Wilkerson Sexton joined On Second Thought to unpack her vision for The Revisioners, and her aim to look deeper at the power passed down through generations of African American families.

On Second Thought host Virginia Prescott speaks with Margaret Wilkerson Sexton.

“I wanted to show the power that comes through intergenerationally when you’re dealing with ancestors who have survived major trauma,” Sexton explains. “Where does all their hope go? Where does all their wisdom go? Where does all that strength go? I believe it resides in the descendants.”

Sexton is on her way to Georgia for the book tour. She will be at Avid Bookshop in Athens this Friday, Nov. 8, and at Charis Books in Atlanta on Sunday, Nov. 10.

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Margaret Wilkerson Sexton's latest book 'The Revisioners' takes a look at the intergenerational bonds of African American families. / Courtesy of Counterpoint Press