As he nears the end of his live, Stanford Solomon is ready to reveal a secret he's kept for most of his life. He is actually Abel Paisley, and decades ago he faked his own death and abandoned his family. THESE GHOSTS ARE FAMILY traces the effects of that decision and follows Abel's many-branched family tree from present day Harlem back to colonial Jamaica. 

For once, comparisons to HOMEGOING are not overblown with THESE GHOSTS ARE FAMILY. This book is a multilayered, beautiful work. It's not the same story though - this book is deeply, uniquely Jamaican, and a look at a slave narrative that American readers don't often see. 

As is clear by the title, the characters in this book are haunted, both literally and figuratively. This book is about all the terrible things that pile up in the dark corners of families over the span of generations - much of it rooted in exploitation of women - and how each person wrestles with them. 

Even with as large a cast of characters as this book has, I was equally drawn to and interested in each person's story. Each was distinctive, and piecing together how they were all related kept me turning the pages as fast as I could.