Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home, and Belonging by Tara Roberts

Title: Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home, and Belonging

Series: n/a
Author: Tara Roberts
Source/Format: BookishFirst; Paperback ARC
More Details: Nonfiction; History; Memoir
Publisher/Publication Date: National Geographic; January 28, 2025

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

This searing memoir by a National Geographic scuba diver recounts one woman's epic journey to trace the global slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean—and find her place in the world. For fans of adventurous women’s memoirs like Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love, Cheryl Strayed's Wild, and Jesmyn Ward's Men We Reaped.

When Tara Roberts first caught sight of a photograph at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History depicting the underwater archaeology group Diving With a Purpose, it called out to her. Here were Black women and men strapping on masks, fins, and tanks to explore Atlantic Ocean waters along the coastlines of Africa, North America, and Central America, seeking the wrecks of slave ships long lost in time. Inspired, Roberts joined them—and started on a path of discovery more challenging and personal than she could ever have imagined.

In this lush and lyrical memoir, she tells a story of exploration and reckoning that takes her from her home in Washington, D.C., to an exotic array of locales: Thailand and Sri Lanka, Mozambique, South Africa, Senegal, Benin, Costa Rica, and St. Croix. The journey connects her with other divers, scholars, and archaeologists, offering a unique way of understanding the 12.5 million souls carried away from their African homeland to enslavement on other continents. But for Roberts, the journey is also intensely personal. Inspired by the descendants of those who lost their lives during the Middle Passage, she decides to plumb her own family history and life as a Black woman to help make sense of her own identity.

Complex and unflinchingly authentic, this deeply moving narrative heralds an important new voice in literature that will open minds and hearts everywhere.

Admittedly, I’m not familiar with Tara Roberts’s work, as much as I would like to be. Before BookishFirst shut down in December, her new memoir, Written in the Waters, was one of the books being offered for review. And, after reading the excerpt, I jumped at the chance to read the rest of it.

Tara Roberts wove a compelling memoir that was part journey of self-discovery and part historical narrative about the complicated history of the transatlantic slave trade, while also reconciling how it related to her own life. From a not-so distant relative who was born enslaved, to the journey Roberts embarks on through diving and travel, to exploring shipwrecks and talking/meeting with people doing important work—with student programs, with politics, or working to find new evidence and preserve an important part of history—in the hopes of finding a sense of understanding, belonging, and peace in her own life.

Most of the memoirs I’ve read didn’t approach history quite like Written in the Waters, which I get, because they were, first and foremost, written with a specific focus (kind of like how some fiction is more of a character study rather than anything else). But Roberts found a good balance, a bridge between the past and the present (no pun intended), through the ups and downs of her life—and even the highs and lows of gaining more experience as a diver.

Written in the Waters is a compulsively readable memoir. And, I highly recommend it!

About the author....

Tara spent the last six years following, diving with, and telling stories about Black scuba divers as they searched for and helped document slave shipwrecks around the world. Her journey was turned into an award-winning National Geographic-produced podcast called “Into the Depths” and featured in the March issue of National Geographic magazine. Tara became the first Black female explorer ever to be featured on the cover of Nat Geo. In 2022, Tara was named the Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year. Currently, she is an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society. And her book Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home and Belonging hits stands in January 2025.

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Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (National Geographic) via BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review, thank you! 

Music Monday (308): Nao, Nova Twins, Teddy Swims

Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: It feels like it's been ages since I last participated in Music Monday, and I've missed sharing some of the stuff from my playlist. So, it feels good to be back. My pick this week is a song from one of my all-time favorite artists. Check out Happy People by Nao!

Adri: After Nova Twins' last album, I knew I couldn't wait until their next release. That's why this week my pick is their newest song, Monsters.

Andrea: Hi all. I'm listening to Lose Control by Teddy Swims. Have an amazing week!

What are you listening to this week?

New Year, New Stuff

With the New Year there are a slew of new books, movies, albums, and TV shows to look forward to. So here’s a brief list of some of the media I’m waiting for…

Books…

• Kata Basis by R.F. Kuang
• The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater
• Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
• When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
• The Capital of Dreams by Heather O’Neill
• Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey
• The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcette

Albums…

• Eusexua by FKA Twigs (January 24)
• Hurry Up Tomorrow by The Weeknd (January 31)
• Club Shy Room 2 by Shygirl (February 14)
• Jupiter by Nao (February 21)
• The Right Person Will Say by Lana Del Rey (May 21)

So, that covers it for now. As always, this list will change as more information becomes available later in the year. What are you looking forward to in 2025?

We're Back & Some House Keeping

 

Hello. I know it’s been a while. Our Thoughts Precisely went on hiatus in December and, honestly, I needed the time away from the internet and from reviewing. And then, I ended up extending my break, since the state where I live has gone through a series of destructive wildfires. (I wasn't in the evacuation zone, but the there have been red flag warnings for wind in my area.) But, I digress. I, honestly, didn’t do too much reading in the conventional sense, a couple of novels but mostly a variety of essays and columns ranging in subject from science to history, think pieces, personal essays, and reviews from publications like Reactor Magazine (formerly Tor.com). And, during that time, I really got to thinking about the ways I wanted to engage with the book community and social media going forward.

Some housekeeping…

I’m not quitting the blog, but I have decided to scale back on the number of posts. For a few years now, I’ve maintained the schedule of posting three times a week (typically Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). But, going into 2025, I likely won’t have a consistent schedule like that anymore. It takes time to maintain, and I’ve reached the conclusion: I don’t want to spend that much time on it anymore, besides the fact that some books I just want to enjoy rather than making decision with “blog content” in mind.

Content wise, nothing much is changing. Music will likely be condensed into Music Mondays and “What I’ve Been Listening To,” rather than individual albums having dedicated posts. For Short Stories, I may or may not do more with the miscellaneous (from around the web) section; we’ll see.

Other than that, I have no blogging resolutions, and I’m just going to go with the flow for 2025.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! It's officially 2025, and we hope everyone has a marvelous day. We're not back to blogging just, so we'll see everyone later this month!