LaTanya McQueen on her debut novel When the Reckoning Comes

On this episode, we hear from LaTanya McQueen about her debut novel, When the Reckoning Comes (Harper Perennial, 2021). The novel follows Mira, a young woman who travels back to the southern town where she grew up to attend the wedding of a childhood friend — a wedding being held at a former plantation-turned-event venue. Here she is forced to grapple with traumas from her own past as well as the historical traumas of the place she grew up.

LaTanya McQueen is also the author of And it Begins Like This, a collection of essays exploring the legacy of slavery and its relationship to contemporary Black female identity. She is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at Coe College in Iowa.

Scroll below the podcast player for transcript of the interview.

Episode 60 – LaTanya McQueen

In this episode, we hear from LaTanya McQueen about her debut novel, When the Reckoning Comes which tells the story of Mira, a young Black woman, who travel’s home to attend the plantation wedding of a childhood friend and is forced to contend with the traumas of her own childhood – and the historical horrors tied to the place.

Episode transcript