Review of the Day: Office of Historical Corrections

The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans is a collection of six stories as well as the title story which is a novella slightly more than 100 pages long. Evan’s published the book in 2020 and it was nominated for the Story Prize and won the Joyce Carol Oates Award as well. I particularly liked the title story which is about Cassie, a troubled Black scholar working for a federal agency tasked with correcting inaccuracies in America’s public record. When a racially charged historical dispute sends her to a small Wisconsin town, she confronts both personal and national histories that resist neat correction. Specifically, one character in Eau Claire, Wisconsin who is a deeply committed white suprematist is found to be the grandson of a black woman who passed for white many decades ago. In particular, the issue of whether someone can be considered white if they have one drop of black blood is foregrounded in the story. Overall, this is a collection worth reading, at least in my opinion.

Kindle and Audible audiobook. 269 pgs. 22 November 2025.