Books › The Office of Historical Corrections
The Office of Historical Corrections
288 pages
A razor-sharp, emotionally resonant collection that examines how the ghosts of history haunt our most intimate relationships.
What it feels like
Reading this collection feels like sitting down with a brilliantly observant friend who sees right through your defenses. The stories unfold at a steady, deliberate pace, wrapping you in an atmosphere that is simultaneously tense, melancholic, and darkly funny. Evans's prose is a masterclass in precision, crisp and incisive, yet capable of delivering devastating emotional blows when you least expect them. You are constantly navigating the messy, overlapping territories of personal grief and collective historical trauma, feeling the weight of the past pressing down on the characters' everyday lives. It is a deeply thought-provoking experience, perfect for readers who love intellectually rigorous, character-driven fiction that refuses to offer easy answers, leaving a lingering, haunting resonance long after the final page.
- Mood
- thought-provoking
- melancholic
- tense
- introspective
- Tone
- wry
- sharp
- observant
- unflinching
- empathetic
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the weight of history · grief and loss · racial identity · the cost of truth · complex friendships · reinvention and consequence
- The writing
- Crisp, incisive, and effortlessly smart, balancing biting wit with deep emotional resonance.
- The arc
- Moves from sharp, localized moments of personal friction into profound, lingering confrontations with collective history and unresolved grief.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave intellectually rigorous, character-driven fiction that dissects the messy intersections of race, history, and personal trauma.
Content notes
- grief
- racism and racial slurs
- cancer/terminal illness
- death of a parent
About the book
"Danielle Evans is widely acclaimed for her blisteringly smart voice and x-ray insights into the complex human relationships. With The Office of Historical Corrections, Evans zooms in on particular moments and relationships in her characters' lives in a way that allows them to speak to larger issues of race, culture, and history. She introduces us to Black and multi-racial characters who are experiencing the universal confusions of lust and love, and getting walloped by grief--all while exploring how history haunts us, personally and collectively. Ultimately, she provokes us to think about the truths of American history - about who gets to tell them, and the cost of setting the record straight. In 'Boys Go to Jupiter' a white college student tries to reinvent herself after a photo of her in a confederate flag bikini goes viral. In 'Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain' a photojournalist is forced to confront her own losses while attending an old friend's unexpectedly dramatic wedding. And in the eye-opening title novella, a black scholar from Washington DC is drawn into a complex historical mystery that spans generations and puts her job, her love life, and her oldest friendship at risk."-- Provided by publisher.
Description from Open Library.
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