Saturday Review: “Community as Witness in West Mills” a review by Kristina L. Knotts in NCLR Online Winter 2024
De’Shawn Charles Winslow. Decent People (2023)
Not a sequel entirely, Decent People is the second Winslow novel set in the fictional North Carolina town of West Mills. Knotts says, “Winslow’s storytelling here shows ample ability and imagination for further exploration of this small but complex North Carolina community.” Some characters from the first novel do make appearances here and with more new people introduced, it is entirely possible Winslow may continue writing these stories in the future.
“In Decent People, the main protagonist, Jo Wright,… is an intelligent and self-sufficient woman who does not take no for an answer and is a fervent defender and fiercely protective of her brother Herschel, who is gay,” Knotts writes. The themes of racism, classism, and homophobia are all tackled in this mystery story.
Carolina folk know that decent can treat outsiders nicely but then treat family with contempt. Knotts says much the same: “The novel’s title can be read straightforwardly and sardonically: it nods to the characters who are kind and decent, but there are a fair share of characters who think highly of themselves yet prove cruel and self-serving. Only by delving into the stories of the various characters are the complexities
revealed and the mystery of the Harmons’ deaths solved.”
Read the entire review in the Online Winter 2024 issue out now! And order the book from Bookshop.org.
