The Deep by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson and James Snipes

Synopsis: The water-breathing descendants of African slave women tossed overboard have built their own underwater society—and must reclaim the memories of their past to shape their future in this brilliantly imaginative novella inspired by the Hugo Award nominated song “The Deep” from Daveed Diggs’ rap group Clipping.

Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.
Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.
Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.
Inspired by a song produced by the rap group Clipping for the This American Life episode “We Are In The Future,” The Deep is vividly original and uniquely affecting.

Book Review:

Among the selection of books I read a few months ago for the Trans Rights Readathon, I picked up “The Deep.” It had been on my TBR for a while, but I just didn’t get around to reading it. However, I am so glad that I finally did. Before diving into the review, I want to mention some trigger warnings for the book. Readers interested in this book should note that the themes include suicide attempt, suicidal ideations, violence, pregnancy, depictions of death, dying, and slavery.

Diving into the depths of “The Deep” by Rivers Solomon, I was swept away by a tide of emotions, captivated by its profound exploration of identity and memory. Solomon’s work is a tour de force of speculative fiction, immersing readers in a world where the echoes of the past reverberate through the present. At its heart lies the enigmatic figure of Yetu, burdened with the weight of her people’s history, yet yearning for liberation.

Yetu’s character evolves significantly throughout the story. By spending time away from her people and stranded in a shallow pond near the surface among human beings, she experiences life disconnected from the memories of her ancestors and the accompanying painful emotions. During this time, Yetu begins to connect with her own emotions. However, she also realizes that she misses those memories and understands the risk she has imposed on her people by leaving them alone with the remembering pod.

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