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Georgie Hockett
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Lost Seeds: The Legacy

Adult; General Fiction (including literary and historical); (Market)

Shaped by the ghosts of their parents’ former enslavement, two brothers, Dub and Tim, must decide—confront the past or suffer the consequences forever? In this riveting continuation of the Brisco family saga, brothers Dub and Tim strive to persevere against their early 1900s post-slavery beginnings—clashing with their history of family trauma and their different coping mechanisms for living in a world that doesn’t accept them. While Dub becomes a respected coal miner and finds prosperity for his family, Tim continues a slow descent into a fog of psychosis, alcoholism, and perpetual joblessness—forced to live an isolated existence on Dub’s property despite his desire for deeper connection. When the ultimate tragedy strikes and the family is forced to confront the deep-seated racism of their small town and the resentments they hold toward one another, the brothers are forced to confront the wounds of their past, leaving them wondering if their actions are the toll exacted for the next generation's progress. Will they overcome their disparate lives and animosity toward one another and come together to protect the next generation, or is it too late? Set against the backdrop of 1960s America, Lost Seeds: The Legacy is a suspenseful tale of love, heartbreak, and the enduring bonds of brothers. As the echoes of personal and collective history reverberate through the lives of Dub, Tim, and their descendants, their story serves as a powerful reminder that sowing the seeds of progress is often paid in blood, sweat, and fractured pieces of the heart.
Reviews
The gripping second installment of Sebastian’s Brisco family saga (following Lost Seeds: The Beginning) finds the lives of the Brisco family—especially estranged brothers Dub and Tim, both born at the dawn of the century and now facing the upheavals of the 1960s. Dub and Tim, two of Tuttle and Betsey Brisco’s fourteen children, embody the struggle to reconcile the brutal past of slavery and segregation with the harsh realities of their present. A now-retired mine supervisor, Dub has managed to carve out a stable life, building a home and community for his large family, while Tim lives in a shack on Dub’s property. Tim, though, has long seemed mired in drink and joblessness, watching life from the outside. Neither is comfortable with changing times. “I’m a realist about the current state of Blacks,” Dub declares to impassioned Civil Rights Movement change-makers, after worrying out loud about Civil Rights leaders “stirring things up in the South.”

This poignant exploration of historical trauma, resilience, and tragedy quickly upends the brothers’ pained dynamic as Tim cleans himself up, fixing up 1946 Renault, and seems to engage with the world again. Tensions reach a boiling point when Dub’s daughter, Loretta, and her husband, Waylon, challenge local segregation by enrolling their three children in a swimming class in the nearby town of Hickory Hill. Their defiance sparks an explosive confrontation and a harrowing crime.

Sebastian paints a detailed, vivid picture of a family trying to reconcile with a history that continues to haunt them, with an emphasis on the mental and emotional scars—and what it takes to dare to make change. Lost Seeds has a wide array of characters, which adds to the richness of feeling, culture, and history, though that at times comes at the expense of narrative momentum. However, the novel pulses with love, family, and hard-won wisdom.

Takeaway: Urgent historical saga of a Black American family in the shadows of racism.

Comparable Titles: Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half, Ayana Mathis’s The Twelve Tribes of Hattie.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: B

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