My Soul to Keep

Tananarive Due’s My Soul to Keep, rewrites the traditional vampire narrative, shifting away from a pale creature of the night to an African immortal scholar with recuperative abilities and an unending quest for knowledge. Following protagonist Jessica Jacobs-Wolde, an African American journalist unknowingly married to the immortal David Wolde, Jessica’s investigative skills lead her to discover the identity of her husband and the truth about the healing powers of his blood. David’s life, spanning over five hundred years, mirrors the trajectory of African American history; forced migration from Africa, captured into slavery, and lynched in the Jim Crow South. Due’s narrative is an opportunity for readers to understand the immense scope of historic traumas and triumphs through one set of eyes, a feat only possible in fiction.