Begin the World Over

Begin the World Over is a counterfactual novel about the
Founders’ greatest fear—that Black and Indigenous people might join
forces to undo the newly formed United States of America—coming true.

In 1793, as revolutionaries in the West Indies take up arms, James Hemings has little interest in joining the fight for liberté—talented
and favored, he is careful to protect his relative comforts as Thomas
Jefferson’s enslaved chef. But when he meets Denmark Vesey, James is
immediately smitten. The formidable first mate persuades James to board
his ship, on its way to the revolt in Saint-Domingue. There and on the
mainland they join forces with a diverse cast of characters, including a
gender nonconforming prophetess, a formerly enslaved jockey, and a
Muskogee horse trader. The resulting adventure masterfully mixes real
historical figures and events with a riotous retelling of a possible
history in which James must decide whether to return to his constrained
but composed former life, or join the coalition of Black revolutionaries
and Muskogee resistance to fight the American slavers and settlers.