The Deep

Written by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes

Narrated by Daveed Diggs

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's 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.

(P) 2019 Simon & Schuster Audio

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Release date: Dec 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781529331752

Rivers Solomon

Rivers Solomon writes about life in the margins, where they’re much at home. Their work has appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Best American Short Stories, and other publications. They are the author of An Unkindness of Ghosts, The Deep, and Sorrowland. A refugee of the transatlantic slave trade, Solomon was born on Turtle Island. They currently live in the United Kingdom.

Reviews for The Deep

[caitirin-141487 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The wajinru are the descendants of pregnant Africa slave women who were cast overboard during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Their children were born breathing water and created a civilization beneath the waves of the Atlantic. The Deep is the story of Yetu, a historian of her people, who alone carries the burden of The Remembering. She contains within her all the memories of every wajinru who ever lived, forced to contain and recall every tactile sense memory of the violence and trauma of ancestral pain. But carrying out this duty is slowly but surely killing her. Can she survive being the historian? And what will happen if she abandons her duty and her people?

In The Deep, Rivers Solomon (fae/faer) invites you to explore what it means to inherit ancestral and generational trauma in a fantastic underwater world populated by the wajinru, a mer-person like race of black people who created a civilization in the wake of destruction left by the casualties of the trans-atlantic passage enslaved Africans were forced to take to supply the demand for enslaved workers in the Americas.

Reading Rainbow, the queer book club that I co-lead at DPL picked this book as our March selection. A little background on this book, it was originally inspired by a song by the group Drexciya, then adapted into a rap song by the group .clipping of whom Daveed Diggs is a part. .clipping rejects the use of personal pronouns in their lyrics as a push back against the territoriality of some styles of rap songs, they do not use I, my, me in their lyrics. For The Deep they went even further, using only the phrase “y’all remember”. In Rivers Solomon’s adaptation into the novella The Deep, fae has focused on that phrase and given life to the wajinru and their tradition of The Remembrance. You can read more about the process in the end notes to the book, which I highly recommend!

The Remembrance is a recurring observance where the historian pushes out all the memories to the rest of their people so that they can all remember their collective past for a time before the Historian recalls all the memories and the wajinru can be free with only faint whispers to burden them.
This book was powerful, and a completely recommend listening to the song The Deep by .clipping as well. I heard the song after I read the book and it would be interesting to compare experiences with someone who heard the song first and then read the book. I recognized moments of the novella when I heard the song.

This is a very queer story, the wajinru live in a variety of family styles and shapes, some in polycules and some unpartnered. I appreciated the queernorm of their world, it wasn’t made into a sensational thing, it was just presented as part of their culture. There are a number of queer relationships in the story as well, but the story focuses on Yetu’s life and how she carries the history of her people inside her. Several members of my bookclub read her character as autistic, although that word is never used. I don’t want to give too much else away, because I recommend that you read this novella. The story was both about the burdens caring for community places on a few ‘strong’ individuals and the cost of being a caretaker, especially when you aren’t prepared for that role and didn’t choose it. But it was also a story about community healing and how that can happen in the wake of a massive traumatic event.

The writing of this story is very lyrical in places and sometimes I became confused about who was narrating because of the lack of personal pronouns, but I don’t find this to be a fault of the writer, just an adjustment of my thinking as we work towards being more identity inclusive. A good stretch of the brain for any reader. It’s a beautiful piece of well-crafted story telling and I liked how it ended. Recommended 100%!

[castlelass · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“The Remembrance took more than it gave. It required she remember and relive the wajinru’s entire history all at once. Not just that, she had to put order and meaning to the events, so that the others could understand. She had to help them open their minds so they could relive the past too. It was a painful process.”

Yetu is a historian. She is a part of the wajinru, a race of merfolk who live in the deep. They are descended from pregnant women thrown overboard during the slave trade. As historian, Yetu collects painful memories of her people’s past, which she harbors inside until the annual ceremony called the Remembrance. Historians are charged with stifling their own wants and needs in order to fulfill this important role in the community.

This book is a mix of fantasy, literary fiction, and folklore. Yetu is a vessel for storing memories, and she represents both the importance of memory (and by inference, history) as well as the manner in which these become diluted over time. Yetu comes into contact with the “two-legs,” as they call the human surface dwellers, and she realizes that her people’s environment is threatened by their actions.

This story is creatively and beautifully written. Solomon’s prose is elegant and lyrical. Though it is short (166 pages), it works on multiple levels – oral history, folk tale, legacy of slavery, environmental damage, and generational trauma. I particularly enjoyed the exploration of the dichotomy of memory. Do not miss the Afterword, which describes the mixture of original sources that resulted in this poetic and powerful novel.

4.5

[ardaiel-573470 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was a really original premise, but for me the book was just ok. I realize that this requires a healthy suspension of disbelief, and usually that doesn't pose a problem for me with sci-fi and fantasy, but my brain just required too much explanation that wasn't there. (It doesn't help that my degree is marine biology, so I just kept trying to nitpick things, which just pulled me out of the story too much.) There are tons of people who will probably enjoy this a lot, but it just wasn't there for me.

[kylekatz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

2019. The Deep is a beautiful story of how the enslaved people who were thrown overboard during the middle passage became merfolk.

[anamie-694496 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a different read but in a good way. I felt really immersed in this story with the emotions Yetu was expressing. It is a short story but presents a relatable aspect of the human experience. I was left wanting to learn more about this underwater world.

[moosenoose · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“Forgetting was not the same as healing.”

An unusual and potentially original take on the idea of merfolk and their creation. A little confusing and disjointed at times but thought provoking. It did drag occasionally and failed to grip my interest enough for me to love it.

[macha_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

a story developed over time starting from a music piece, this afrofuturism novella is very intriguing. it creates a new underwater species made from the babies born in the ocean of women sold into slavery and then thrown overboard to drown during the Atlantic passage. then years later, the Historian has to help the species remember this history and understand it, in order to survive and change their world.

[foggidawn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Yetu is a Historian, charged with holding all of the memories of her people. She lives in an underwater society formed from the children of enslaved mothers thrown from slave ships, who, never breathing air, learned to breathe underwater and developed gills and fins. The weight of these memories, of all of the painful things that have happened to her people from the Foremothers on, is driving Yetu almost crazy. When they hold the annual Remembering ritual, where Yetu releases the memories to the rest of her people for a brief time, she flees rather than taking the burden back. What will become of her, separated from her people and the memories -- and what will become of those she has abandoned?

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Daveed Diggs, which was delightful. I highly recommend that as a way to experience this text, if audiobooks are your thing. The story itself is immersive and a little disconcerting; you're thrown right in and have to make sense of the world as it's revealed. I'll admit that there are some flashback-like portions where Yetu is experiencing memories of the past that were a little confusing to me, especially as I couldn't page back and forth to make sense of things. Still, I found this a, well, deep read, very poignant and thought-provoking. It's a quick read/listen, but I think it will stay with me for quite a while.

[electrascaife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Yetu is the Historian for the underwater tribe descended from African women thrown overboard from slave ships. She holds the collective memory for the entire tribe, for all of their history, so that the rest of her people need not suffer the trauma of remembering their violent past. But those memories are slowly killing Yetu, and she flees from that burden and her people. On her journey, she meets one of the two-legs and learns about the world above and what her tribe must do to survive.

Strange but powerful. I love the neo-mythic feel to the story, and I think it’s an important read. It goes on my list of books that should be required reads for high school, and could spark come great conversations.

[kiaya40 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Thanks to Libro.fm and Simon & Schuster Audio for letting me listen and review this thought-provoking book.
This was a unique story. I originally thought this was a more lighthearted story with merfolk and such, but this is based on the idea of mercreatures originating from pregnant African American slaves who were thrown overboard and drowned, but their children survived and began the race of the mercreatures in the deep.
I was interested and excited to read this, but it wasn't quite what I expected and threw me a bit. It's deeper than I was expecting and mournful, which when I realized what it was about and based on then it made more sense, but at first, I was a little confused.
There were good messages here about coming to terms with the history of slavery and being able to move past it, find peace and about sharing the weight of the grief among them.
I felt like it was a bit slow-moving in parts and I was waiting for something else to happen sometimes, but it didn't. Also, there are a few things I didn't like about the romance aspect of the story in it.

[kalliegrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a beautiful, painful, creative story about remembering and connecting to the past. The pregnant women who were kidnapped to be enslaved were often thrown over board on their way across the Atlantic. This is a story of their descendants who were born in the deep and survived, and what they must do to continue surviving.

[kcshankd · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not sure I followed everything that was going on here. Definitely a solid argument for the burden and duty to remember.

Sci fi/Alt reality that birthing mothers and the newly born tossed overboard from slave ships survived and created an aquatic species.

[greeniezona · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had big, big feels about An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, so I knew I would be buying this, and it was kind of torture waiting for the paperback to come out (my preferred format).

This was rich and compelling but I felt a bit removed from it. Whether it was that I'd overhyped myself based on how much I loved the previous boo, that it was just not for me, or it was a bit too dark and heavy reading during the pandemic, I don't know. It was definitely moving. I think I just wanted too much to replicated some part of the experience I had with Unkindness, and this is a very different story.

Still definitely a fan of Solomon. I should probably reread this someday and give it another chance.

[sriddell_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting speculative fiction based on a song by the same title. The book imagines an underwater world populated by the descendants of African slaves thrown overboard during the Atlantic crossing. A reclaiming of a horrifying holocaust, turning mass genocide into triumph.

A very interesting and thought provoking story.

[managedbybooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I went into this book thinking it was going much longer than it actually was, but I think the length of this book was perfect for the story Rivers Solomon wanted to tell. There was so much power and emotion packed into less than 200 pages, I'm still reeling from it!

[oldandnewbooksmell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Yetu is a historian for the wajiru, the sea dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women who were thrown overboard. Yetu keeps all the memories of their past and shares only a few with the wajiru once a year while other times they live only in the present. Yetu struggles with the feeling of losing herself to the memories and not having a grip on the present. How will she come to terms with the past and the present and at what cost will it be to her people?

I absolutely love this book. The concept is one that I’ve never read before and it has an interesting take on mer-people. The poetic language is what captivated me throughout the entire novella. I will admit, I had gotten slightly confused at the beginning as to what was going on because it jumped in so fast, but after reading the whole book I wouldn’t want it changed. It gives such a deep, rich history even with it being as short as it is.

There is so much I want to say and talk about with this novella but I don’t want to give anything away. The biggest thing is it’s such a good book and I believe anyone who reads the summary and even thinks they would enjoy - they will.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Imagine if all of the pregnant slaves thrown overboard during the horrific middle passage went on to have children that survived and built a society underwater. That's the premise of The Deep, a book inspired by a rap song by Daveed Diggs' group Clipping. The story reminds me a bit of The Giver, with one individual in the society carrying the painful memories of their history. I read this after visiting the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and had all of that history fresh in my mind, which gave the story an even deeper impact.

“What is belonging?” we ask. She says, “Where loneliness ends.”

“The deep will be our sibling, our parent, our relief from endless solitude. Down here, we are wrapped up. Down here, we can pretend the dark is the black embrace of another.”

[bookscatsetc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting idea, but the writing left me flat. Really wanted to like this one too.

[krau0098 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone novella that I borrowed from the library.

Story (3/5): Yetu holds the memories for the Wajinru (a mermaid like people descended from African slave women who were thrown into the ocean to die). As the time approaches for Yetu to do the Remembering for the Wajinru (where she shares the memories with them before again holding them), Yetu fears she is losing herself to the memories and fears she is in too much pain from the memories to take them back into herself again. So she runs, leaving her people swamped in memories and experiences, to see some of the outside world for herself.

This was okay. It’s kind of like a mermaid version of The Giver by Lois Lowry but shorter and less interesting. There are a lot of big ideas addressed in here: slavery, the idea of history, what makes a group of people a People, GLBT rights.. I just kind of felt like they were ideas that have been explored in other books in a much better way. I honestly had some trouble getting into the story and really never engaged with it all that well.

Characters (3/5): I found Yetu hard to engage with. She caused some major issues and really let her people down and she does this for a fairly selfish reason...however, her people seem to grow and benefit from her rather childish action in the end. All of the Wajinru come across as fairly childish because they hold no history and just live day to day. I didn’t engage with the characters and found them all to be fairly shallow and stereotypical.

Setting (3/5): The setting wasn’t really the main driver for the story. I enjoyed that the story takes place in the deep ocean, but the description of the surroundings here is pretty slim and I often forgot that the story was taking place in the deep. It’s important that this is where the Wajinru developed and thrived, but we don’t hear much about how they actually survive and thrive in this environment.

Writing Style (3/5): I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style and found it somewhat difficult to stay engaged with. The writing alternates between being poetic/flowery and somewhat stark. I found my mind struggling to stay focused and kept putting the book down to wander off and do other things. It was just kind of boring and explored ideas that are better explored in other more lengthy novels. I felt like this was almost an over commercialized, light version of a book trying to pack lots of meaningful ideas in a small space but without much impact.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay since it wasn’t a huge time commitment to read. However, I didn’t really enjoy it or find it thought-provoking or intriguing. I guess it was an okay mermaid origin story. However, the idea of a memory keeper was done much better in “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. I felt like this novella was trying to make a big impact by hitting a lot of hot button issues but mostly it kind of falls flat and ends up feeling like a light, surfacey glimpse into these issues (slavery, a people’s history, etc). I felt very “eh, whatever” about the whole thing.

[viragoreads · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm going with 3 stars because I don't know how I feel about this novella. I wanted to love it. I didn't hate it. There were parts that I got lost in. However, there were parts that lost me. I own the hard cover, but had to borrow the audiobook from the library to get through it. Perhaps a re-read at a later date...

[noeshia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Re-imagining the painful past as a painful beginning through the magic of the sea. Very good read also about sectioning off those who are different and people not knowing their own history.

[menshevixen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not long, but a read to savor.

[jakecasella · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mermaid society descended from the Africans who were thrown overboard slave ships. It's a heck of a starting place for the novella, and Solomon uses it to basically have an extended meditation on remembering versus forgetting past trauma—which is more feasible, which is more doable, which is right? Handles some neuroatypical issues very deftly, which I didn't expect what with the mermaids. I think a weak point is that it has such a definite past—in the origin of its characters—but doesn't commit to a present setting, in time or place. Fantastic read nonetheless.

[damiella-533991 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

WOW!

(I think that says it all)

[tegarsault · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Engaging and far reaching, the book really makes you feel the world they are in. The history/memory relationship is a beautiful, and effective way to provide details while also communicating the themes of the story. I only wish I could get more.

[renbedell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fantasy novella about a mermaid society that gives all their memories to one person who carries them on while the rest of their society forgets. The story follows a girl who is carrying the memories and she can no longer deal with the pain. It is a beautifully written story that deals with PTSD, love, and community.

[iira_24 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting premise, but I could not get into the story. I felt as if trying to poke through the surface and failing time and again, but since the story was short I managed to the end. However, I was left with nothing to write home about. This is probably more because of me, not because of the story itself.

[fred_mouse · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Told from the perspective of a young woman with PTSD because of her role within her society, this is at times a difficult book to read. But Yetu's remembering of the story of her people, and the way that she find a solution for herself are powerful interwoven stories. Fascinating reading.

[liscarey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The wajinru are the descendants of pregant women thrown overboard from slave ships. The women drowned, but the babies survived--transformed into beings with gills and fins, able to breathe both in the air, and in the water. Mostly, tehey prefer to stick to the deeper waters.

They make certain other choices. Their history is painful, not just their origins but other episodes in it as well. To maintain peace and amity within their community, they intentionally forget their own history, even their own personal history beyond a few months. That history is absorbed by the Historian, the only one of their number who remembers everything, their entire history.

The Historian for this generation is Yetu. She's been the Historian for twenty years, since she was fourteen, and she's hated it from the beginning. She's of a much more sensitive temperament than her immediate predecessor, and perhaps most previous Historians. She hates sharing all the pain of the wajinru history, and she is free of it for only a few days every year, during the Remembrance, when she transfers those memories to all the other wajinru. And this year, she has had enough, and flees while her people are completely absorbed in their history.

While Yetu struggles to learn to be herself, and, injured and washed up on land, is befriended and helped by a few "two-legs," the wajinru are struggling with the memories of their history for much longer than normal, and in their struggles, are generating a storm.

A very bad storm, one that will threaten many of the two-legs,
.
And Yetu is, despite the freedom of not carrying the History in her mind, is starting to miss her own people. Yet she doesn't want to die, as she had come to believe she would if not free from the History.

As she sees a terrible hurricane building, she's confronted with the terrible decision of whether to keep her freedom, or save her people and the two-legs.

It's an interesting world, and I really felt a lot of connection with Yetu, and the failure of everyone she cared about and who cared about her to understand why carrying the History was so hard for her. It's engrossing and satisfying.

Recommended.

I received this story as part of the Hugo Voters packet, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

[lavaturtle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story is an interesting meditation on identity, community, trauma, and history. I liked the characters and the ending.